


A World Gives and Takes

by D_OShae



Series: Of Dragons, Winter, and Men [4]
Category: Hijack - Fandom, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Loss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 112,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21648928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/D_OShae/pseuds/D_OShae
Summary: Hiccup and Jack found  a place of comfort in their lives. As such, they decided to journey into the wilds of Halla. However, their plans never quite turn out as expected. Their endurance, stamina, and wits get tested through increasingly dire circumstances. If they can remain united, however, they just might see themselves through it and come out with more than either could expect. However, Halla will not give up without a fight.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood)
Series: Of Dragons, Winter, and Men [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1057745
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**A World Gives and Takes**  
Author Foreword

I seriously did not plan on writing a fourth novel in this series. However, after seeing HTTYD: The Hidden World, I found a question that needed answering in this alternate universe. Once I began thinking about it, the words started to arrive. It did not come in one great whoosh as did the other stories. Over the course of about six months (literally twice the time it normally takes me to write a story) I wrote this in fits and starts. If it seems uneven in places, that is the cause.

A lot of people will find this tale boring. While technically an action-adventure story, it gave me the chance to showcase Hiccup and Jack in an isolated and intimate setting, and not one entirely pleasant. I wanted to see how they interacted with each another when they needed to strictly depend on one another. It proved illuminating. I found hidden themes that connected straight to the source material and required discovery. Hence, this story evolved from that exploration.

Not everyone will enjoy this tale. It is mired entirely in the alternate HiJack universe I created, and specifically Halla. I suspect half the reading audience will get through the first four or five chapters and then toss it to the side. That is absolutely fine. My bookshelves contain a number of tomes I never quite could get into for one reason or another. There is good reason to suspect I wrote this entirely for myself.

For this festive season I present Of Dragons, Winter, and Men: A World Gives and Takes, volume four in the series. I sincerely hope you enjoy the story, and Merry Whatever-It-Is you celebrate.

D O’Shae  
2 December 2019

* * *

**Chapter 1**

“Is he okay?” Astrid asked and narrowed her eyes.

“I think so. He seemed okay last night when I saw him last,” Hiccup replied.

They eyed one another for a moment. Sunlight streamed in through the open forge window letting in the pleasant late spring air. It reminded Hiccup of Bunnymund’s warren he visited a dozen years before, and it still remained fresh in his mind. It seemed both Thursar H’rim and Blikse’fey decided to be elsewhere for the day. Perhaps as a gift, Hiccup thought earlier.

“Are you okay?” She inquired when he said nothing further.

“I think so,” he answered and pulled the waistband of his new pants back and forth in the hopes it would alleviate the stiffness of the fabric. It did not, and so he tugged at the sash against his neck.

“Hiccup, you can’t just keep saying you think so, and stop playing with your sash,” Astrid snapped at him and slapped at his hand.

“It’s itching my neck. I’m not used to woven wool this close to my neck. I’d be fine if I could just wear my flax…

“No. You look nice, and it’s good to see you wearing the family colors again. That brooch is nice on the sash.”

“I wouldn’t call green and brown family colors, Astrid. Half the village wears green and brown,” Hiccup said as he pulled the sash further away from his neck. “Besides, did you see what my mom is wearing? I swear it looks like she’s being escorted by Cloudjumper.”

Astrid snickered. Hiccup looked her over again. The woman, also a wife and mother, wore a color similar to a newly bloomed blaveis. The skirt hung just above the knees and bore a slightly darker hue than the blouse with the puffy sleeves. In true Astrid fashion, she also wore her metal pauldrons, although they looked scrubbed and polished. Hiccup barely noticed the chain maille fringe on the wide belt.

“You look nice, too. That lavender brings out your eyes,” he said to her.

“Thanks,” Astrid replied, and her cheeks turned a bit rosy.

“Astrid, these last two years…”

“Hiccup, please,” she interrupted him while fiddling with the brooch that held the sash in place. She gazed at it in curiosity. “You’ve explained it to me at least a hundred times.”

“Please, hear me out,” he all but begged and held her eyes. She softened and nodded. “I missed our friendship for those ten years. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”

“I know, but do you know what really hurt?”

Hiccup shook his head back and forth. The small amount of styling done to it came half undone.

“That you hid so much of yourself from me. Did you ever think early on I might’ve understood and maybe could’ve helped?” Astrid queried in a stern voice.

“I was terrified of anyone knowing, Astrid. I was scared what my dad would say… the village… I thought I had to be exactly like him to keep the village together,” he said, and not for the first time, but never in so meaningful a manner.

She took his hand and held his eye again.

“You don’t have to be exactly him: only just a little bit. He was your father after all.”

Hiccup nodded and more of his hair assumed it’s natural state.

“I was angry because I didn’t know what the future was going to be. It scared me. I don’t like being scared… and maybe I overreacted a tiny bit.”

He smirked and said: “But you came through when it mattered. You always did. Even when you hated me you still did what needed to be done.”

“I never hated you, Hiccup. Did you know Stone’s middle name is Horrendous?”

“Astrid!” Hiccup breathed in astonishment. “You never told me.”

“I didn’t want your head to get any bigger than that huge melon you’ve already got,” she rejoined with grin.

“You really need to stop listening to Jack about stuff like that,” he told her and jerked at the sash again.

Astrid slapped his hand yet again. Then they chuckled at one another.

“I never thanked you for asking me to be your witness. Sure surprised Hund, I tell you that,” she said of her husband.

“Still doesn’t know what to make of me, huh?”

“You got drunk and called him good looking last Isemalerdag.”

“He is good looking. You know that,” Hiccup innocently stated behind his smirk.

“If it weren’t for Jack I’d be afraid for him and of you,” Astrid replied and sounded serious.

“Astrid!”

“Got you.”

They narrowed their eyes at one another, and then slowly smiled. Hiccup truly did enjoy the friendship that got rekindled between them following the events surrounding the demise of the second Isemaler. She and Fishlegs of all people cooked up the Isemalerdag celebration and forced it on the people of Berk. It touched both Hiccup and Jack to the core. For two winters the village spent one day feasting to the honor of Isemaler, the ice painter and bringer of winter joy. For nine people on Berk, it served as bittersweet remembrance of one they once called a comrade-in-arms.

From outside they heard the din of many dragons trumpeting.

“That’s the signal. You ready for this, Hiccup?” His friend asked.

“Were you?” He countered.

“No, but I survived it. So will you. You need this more than anyone else I know.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

Astrid grinned and shrugged. She then hooked her arm around his and led him to the door. They opened it and stepped out from the smithy they used as their staging area. It seemed appropriate since Hiccup served as the master smith, and it also gave him a greater sense that Gobber took part in the day. Almost the entire village turned out and jammed into the main square. All of the buildings got bedecked in spring flowers, and most of the people actually cleaned their clothing. The smaller dragons lined the roofs and rafter ends. The larger ones circled the perimeter of the people. The gathering cheered as Hiccup and Astrid made their way to the central fire post. Moments later another cheer rose up from across the square.

“Okay, Hiccup. We’re coming down to it. If you’re gonna back out now, you’d better call Toothless and get out of here,” Astrid loudly said to be heard above the din.

“Ha, ha,” Hiccup drolly rejoined.

Friends called out well wishes to him as he made his way toward the dais erected next to the fire post. On it stood Nichrank, the healer of the village who took over for Gothi when she became too age addled. Next to him Gothi sat on a chair with a pleasant smile on her face and stared out through whitened eyes. Behind them Toothless and IceSpike occupied the stone curtain of the fire post. The tall, husky man got permission from the governing counsel to officiate the ceremony in lieu of Gothi who could not longer serve in the position. His head swung back and forth watching Hiccup’s and another party approach.

“Gods, look at him,” Hiccup breathed the words and felt them catch in his throat.

He saw Jack approach through another opening in the crowd. Fishlegs walked next to him. People shouted to Jack in the same way they did to Hiccup. However, Hiccup felt dazed by the sight of the man he loved. Jack wore a sky-blue jerkin over a sky-blue shirt. Small bits of seashell and mother of pearl got attached to the shoulders of the jerkin and down the arms of the shirt. It looked like snow. He wore new, dark brown leather pants. To top it off, Jack went barefoot. Hiccup’s mind ran riot with images of Jack in his Guardian garb, something not seen for two years.

“And you think Hundfus is handsome,” Astrid said with a laugh.

Hiccup felt his throat constrict even more. His love for the man from another world seemed boundless, especially after they worked so hard for two years to fix their relationship. That it would culminate with the day at hand seemed almost unimaginable back then, but circumstances changed for them. He saw Jack staring at him and Fishlegs gently guiding the other-worlder toward the small platform. Their eyes remained locked on one another as they converged on the same spot. Large, sloppy smiles spread across their faces as they held hands and turned to faced the massed gathering of their people.

Nichrank held aloft the traditional Staff of Elders, and the crowd gradually grew silent. The man, dressed in the ceremonial gray of his post, looked out over the gathering. Then he held the staff over the heads of Hiccup and Jack.

“Who of the line of Haddock blesses this union?” Nichrank loudly asked.

“I, Valka Haddock, mother of Hiccup, give my full blessings,” Valka stated in a clear voice.

“Who then of the line of Fries blesses this union?”

Spitlout stood out form the crowd and said: “Jack Fries has become one of our own, the Jorgensons, and we’re honored to offer our blessings for him!”

The crowd cheered.

Nichrank waved the staff over the heads of Hiccup and Jack. The crowd calmed on command. He then moved the staff over the russet-haired man.

“Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, do you enter this union freely and of your own will?”

“Yes, freely and of my own will… with all that I am,” Hiccup recited the vow.

“And is there at least one who gives testament to this?”

“I give testament. I am his witness, his fellow dragon rider… his friend, Astrid Vollen. Hiccup does this freely and of his own will,” she said in a strong, clear voice.

“Jack Jorgenson Fries, do you enter this union freely and of your own will?” Nichrank recited again after he moved the staff over Jack’s head.

“Yes, freely, of my own will… with all my heart,” Jack said and squeezed Hiccup’s hand.

“And is there anyone who can give testament to this?” Nichrank again recited.

“I, Fishlegs Ingerman, having know this man since his arrival among us, having earned his trust… his kinship, I give testament Jack enters this union freely and of his own will,” Fishlegs loudly announced.

“The vow is made, the testament is sworn,” Nichrank’s voice tolled. “Now, is there any here who challenges the will of these two men and those who stand witness for them?”

On cue Astrid and Fishlegs stepped forward. If need be, then they would do battle with any who spoke against the union. The people in the square stood in silence while the round man and the lithe woman scanned them all. For eight heartbeats they waited, and none spoke.

“Since there is no challenge, what say you people of Berk to the joining of these two to make their lives, their fortune, their fate together? What say you to the gods?” The officiant shouted at the crowd.

The sound from those gathered in the square rose like thunder to the skies. Soon the voices of dozens and dozens dragons of all breeds and sizes added their decree. The consent of the crowd washed over Hiccup and Jack, and everyone on the dais, with a physical force. They rocked back on their heels from the sheer wall of sound that hit them. In return, each man smiled so broadly it looked to crack their faces. After nearly a minute of wild cacophony, Nichrank raised the staff again over their heads, and the cacophony died down to mere whispers.

“Their families have blessed them, they made their vow, witnesses have sworn to their intent, and the people of Berk concur. Hiccup and Jack, face one another,” the man commanded them.

They did.

“From this day onward you are wed in the eyes of all of Berk. Each day you must test this union. With each sunrise you must wake and face the other with a pure heart, pure intention, and stay true to your vows. Look about you. In times of trouble these are the ones you will turn to for counsel, guidance, and advice. As you are wed to one another, so too are you wed to all of Berk. Let this day be a cause for celebration and joy for Hiccup and Jack!” Nichrank exhorted them.

The crowd erupted into another raucous round of cheering. No one told them to do it, but Hiccup and Jack stepped forward, wrapped their arms around one another, and kissed so soundly the people nearest them could all but feel the heat. The people of Berk urged them on. They held the embrace until need of air forced them apart.

“Husband,” Hiccup mouthed the word to his beloved.

“Husband,” Jack returned as tears slid down his face.

They could not stop from smiling at one another as the adulation for their union swept around them. Soon hands patted their backs as Astrid and Fishlegs joined in. The four clasped one another. Eventually Valka and Spitlout made their way to them, and added their embrace to the foursome. Slowly, more arms got added until Hiccup and Jack stood cocooned, surrounded by the care and love of the village. After ten minutes the care and love started to get very warm from the number of bodies pressed together. It took another five minutes before either man could get a breath of fresh air. However, they never even thought about complaining.

“To the feast!” Nichrank hollered when he also got freed.

Trestle tables ringed the square just before where the larger dragons stood, who looked as though they wanted to feast first, laden with drink and food for the masses. While Hiccup and Jack provided a goodly portion of the victuals, the clan brought twice as much to feed themselves, family, friends, and the new couple. Once the wedding party left the dais, the first group of musicians took to the stage. They played a bouncy tune as Hiccup and Jack wended their way through the throng and received countless blessings and well-wishing for their future. Valka found them and hugged them so hard she nearly put a crick in their necks. The Jorgensons ganged up on the couple and treated them to several rounds of the family chant. After which the Thorston gang, both Ruffnut and Tuffnut’s families along with others bearing the name, swarmed them. Jack felt certain one of the chickens bit his foot, and he looked forward to putting on his boots before his toes got crushed. Astrid, Hundfus, and their children converged on them. Little by little sections of the crowd took turns with the men. Berk celebrated.

“I wish Gobber…” Jack started to say when they got a moment to themselves.

“Some part of him is here, Jack… in us… in our memories of him,” Hiccup cut him off, and his hand caressed the broach.

Jack nodded and said: “Like your father and Isemaler.”

Hiccup nodded. The moment became very poignant for them as they privately recalled all the people who helped them reach the day. More important to both, Berk came together in happiness and joy instead of fear and war. For nearly a week the island prepared and built in excitement as their wedding day approached. They held hands as they tried to make their way to a table to get some food. People continued to wish them good fortune during their short sojourn.

“Okay, first things first: the wedding night,” Tuffnut’s voice assailed them just as they reached the table with the roasted boar, mutton, and yak on it. “It’ll be all different now that you’re married. Trust me, watch out for knives and swords.”

“What in blazes are you talking about?” Hiccup rounded on their friend with a laugh.

“Oh, my. Not good. Not good at all,” Tuffnut said in a worried voice.

Hiccup and Jack gazed in confusion at the man who walked bent to one side.

“Did you warn them, son of my father?” Ruffnut’s voice grated through the air behind them.

“Sister of my… well, of mine, they’re completely ignorant of the facts of life,” Tuffnut rejoined.

“This is going to be good,” Jack mumbled loud enough for Hiccup to hear.

“Probably the best gift we’ll get,” Hiccup agreed.

Tuffnut, dressed in a new black, red, and yellow leather ensemble that made him appear more comical than threatening, tutted at them while shaking his head. The man staggered toward them, although he did not carry a mead mug on his person. When he got close, he threw his arms around their shoulders. Ruffnut then appeared before them in a verdant vest and matching skirt so green it made the eyes water. Her hair stood in a mountainous coil on the top of her head, and her helmet sat perched atop that.

“The first night is the deadliest,” Tuffnut half-yelled over the sounds of merriment. “Loki descends to test whether or not you’re meant for each other.”

“Loki is great and wise and suffers not the foolish whims of mortals,” Ruffnut told them.

“You do remember who Jack is, right?” Hiccup indiscreetly inquired.

“Matters, not, oh former chieftain of the clan. For Loki will instill in both of you the madness of marriage. It happens on the first night, and every anniversary thereafter,” she continued in dramatic fashion.

“Love is a brutal mistress. She demands complete commitment, and Loki comes as her harbinger bearing spears and axes to test the mettle and sinew of your vows,” Tuffnut warned.

“Mettle and sinew,” Jack snorted in amusement. “Wait! I thought you said he comes with knives and swords?”

“Sharp things at any rate, and in the deep of the night after you lay exhausted from hours of passionate, sweaty, intense, feverish…”

“Determined, ambitious, reckless, fierce, demanding…” Ruffnut interjected.

“All out love making… or whatever it is you two do,” Tuffnut stridently continued, “you will wake to find your favorite weapons in hand, your hackles raised as you seek to learn if your true love is… well, true and will seek to carve out his heart to see if it lies there!”

“A wedding night duel to the death?” Hiccup enjoined.

“With knives, axes, and spears,” Jack added. “What about the dragons? Do we get to use them?”

“Hmm, good question. They sleep in the same room as you, don’t they?” Tuffnut asked.

“They might also be taken by the marriage madness,” Ruffnut suggested.

“Why? They didn’t get married? They’re not even the same species,” her brother countered.

Hiccup and Jack waited in giddy anticipation to find out how the Thorston twins would conclude their particular brand of nuptial advice. Their logic already formed a Gordian knot.

“Sweet sister,” Tuffnut said full of authority, but then he paused and rubbed his chin. “This complicates matters. Do you two actually… do… that… in front of your dragons?”

The newlyweds each nodded.

“Barf and Belch make themselves scarce whenever Smellied and me get to trotting,” Ruffnut told them.

“Same with me and Chinny,” her brother mumbled.

“By any chance did either… maybe both of you drink too much on your wedding night and maybe your husband or wife did as well?” Hiccup knowingly inquired. “I seem to recall there was a lot of ale and mead at your weddings and very little left over in the morning.”

“Yeah, I was seeing triple by the time I got back to the manor,” Tuffnut intoned.

“Smellied said I dragged him up the hill, but I don’t remember that,” Ruffnut grumbled.

“Okay, you’re both going to be around most of the night?” The semi-crippled man inquired, his banded shanks of hair hanging to one side.

“Until the last dance,” Jack stated.

“Okay. Good. We’re, ah, going to go, um…”

“Consult,” Ruffnut supplied the word as her hair looked ready to tip over, but miraculously remained upright.

“Yes, consult. We’ll be back,” Tuffnut said.

The twins then headed into the crowded village square as they muttered back and forth.

“I swear they write this down and rehearse,” Jack said as he snickered at the disappearing duo.

“It would be less coherent if they did,” Hiccup chuckled the words.

The newly wedded couple then turned and pounced on the food table. The filled half their plates with meat, and then moved on to the other fare. By the time they finished, each feared the trencher might crack from the weight. Together they went in search of seats before they got waylaid again. As they looked around, strong hands carefully gripped their elbows.

“To your right, over by the fish cart storage, there’s some chairs there and not many people,” Snotlout said to them. “And I got Jack’s boots, too.”

“I’m too hungry to care,” Hiccup said and aimed for the area.

Jack moved along beside him, and Snotlout kept pace. The slightly pungent aroma of fish would forever exist in that small locale, and but the couple and their friend ignored it. Jack set his plate down on a chair so he could retrieve the utensils from his pocket. Before he managed that, Snotlout engulfed him in a powerful hug.

“Gods, I’m so happy for you two,” the man half-whispered, half-shouted in his ear.

Jack squeezed him back and replied: “Thanks, and you were part of making it happen. Your whole family, really.”

“Dad started crying when he heard Nichrank called out your name. When’d you do that?” Snotlout asked without releasing him.

“Earlier this week when he asked for my full name. I felt I owed it to you and your family for everything you’ve done.”

Snotlout hugged him so hard Jack thought his spine might break. He started to wheeze. His friend, colleague, and business partner released him. Jack saw wet streaks on the man’s face. Snotlout then whirled and scooped up Hiccup who did not react fast enough. The senior dragon rider’s breath got forced out of him in a great whoosh.

“You, too, Hiccup,” Snotlout said in a thick voice. “Thank you for helping me get back.”

“No, you did… it all on… your own,” Hiccup struggled to say and weakly patted his friend’s back since his arms remained trapped.

Snotlout apparently sensed the constriction his employed and let Hiccup go. The newly married Viking stepped back while dragging air into his lungs. However, he gave his friend a warm smile. Snotlout wiped at his cheeks.

“You guys deserve all the happiness in the world after everything you’ve gone through. It almost killed me when you nearly split apart,” he said and sniffled.

“Is…” Jack began to say and glanced around. He smiled at the guests sitting fairly close by. “His sacrifice taught us both a lesson. Plus, you know, ah… certain things changed.”

“Is that going to be forever?”

“At least until I draw my last breath…”

“And that’ll be a hundred years from now,” Hiccup warily added.

“At least,” Jack confirmed and let his gaze settled on the Viking.

“Gods, listen to me,” Snotlout said in fluster. “Sit and eat. I’m sorry.”

“Stick around while we do,” Jack invited him.

Thus for a short while Hiccup and Jack enjoyed a small moment of feasting with their friend. Snotlout wondered aloud what would change for them, and the both said probably not much. They already lived together for nearly a dozen years, and the last two years mostly as a wedded couple. Certain topics they talked about in coded phrases. The current host exhorted Jack to put on his boots before the dancing really began. Although Snotlout asked many, many times since the change occurred, he still asked again.

“So you really don’t miss it, huh?” He pondered out loud.

“I did at first… well, the first time it didn’t happened, but then figuring out how to make things right between Hiccup and me became the priority. Not going… through that helped. I don’t really think about it much anymore,” Jack assured his friend.

“He stopped dreaming about it over a year ago, so I’d say he adjusted,” Hiccup chimed in. “I worried about him missing… it, too, but IceSpike helped a lot with that… and your family. You, your dad, mom, and uncle sort of filled in for Jack’s, ah… other family.”

Jack nodded in agreement as he stuffed thinly sliced warm mutton into his mouth.

“You do realize you’re related to me now, Hiccup?” Snotlout asked through a wicked grin.

The notion stunned Hiccup for a moment, but he caught himself, smirked, and replied: “Couldn’t be prouder, Snotlout.”

Snotlout beamed. Hiccup stuffed some mashed tubers into his face and chewed.

“So am I legally a Jorgenson?” Jack inquired.

“Anyone who says any different will have to fight the family, so, yeah, I’d say you’re legally one of us,” the man with gray-streaked dark hair rejoined.

“It’s the Viking legal system and politics, Jack. You know that,” Hiccup said around a mouthful of food.

Jack chuckled and smirked. The moment of quiet got shattered when a small group of dragon riders came searching for Hiccup and Jack. They refused to get up until they got more food into their stomachs. Snotlout tried to back away, but neither of the newlyweds would let him. Once temporarily sated, the couple of the hour got pulled into the center of the square, and they pulled their friend with them. Gradually all the riders filled the dance circle, and it comprised at least a third of the village, as Rancid called for the band to play Dance of the Dragons. The musicians on the stage played the opening bar. Everyone got into position while the instrumentalists prepared.

“Hie, hie, hie!” The current bandleader called in a loud voice.

“HIE!” The dancers shouted as one on the fourth beat.

No one took credit for inventing the dance, and it did seem as though it evolved naturally over the years. It started on a high summer day feast, the first after the civil war, as slightly tipsy dragon riders tried to imitate their flying patterns on the ground. In time, whoever called for the dance acted as the leader and called out the headings and maneuvers. It acted as sort of a game as much as dance. Anyone who did not maintain the proper position and keep in step would be required to leave the dance square. The dance commenced until only three people remained: the main squadron leaders. Sometimes the dance could go on for quite a while if it happened too early in the evening. That night, however, with spirits soaring high throughout the village, most everyone simply wanted enjoyment. Both Hiccup and Jack took missteps a third of the way through the dance, and happily accepted the ribbing they received.

“You did that on purpose,” Valka said to Jack as he walked away from the square. Hiccup stood next to her.

Jack feigned insult.

“Stow it, Guardian. You know those maneuvers better than most since you, this one, Rancid, and Moat came up with most of them.”

“Lady Valka! And on my wedding day!” Jack continued the act.

Valka snaked out one of her long arms, wrapped it around his neck, and pulled him into a side hug. He orange-hued dress-like robes rustled as she did. Everyone could tell the color came from Cloudjumper’s ridge crown. Her gray-streaked reddish-auburn hair got pulled into a bun in the back with a small spray of flowers perched in the center. She looked elegant in the eyes of the two younger men.

“And did you forgot I am now officially your mother-in-law?” She said in a playfully threatening manner.

“No, ma’am, I did not!”

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks… Mom,” he quietly said.

“Jack, you don’t have to call…”

“But I want to,” Jack gently cut her off. “Part of a real life is having a mother. I think my first mother would approve… Mom. You’ve filled in that role for me often enough, so this makes it official.”

“Told you he’d say that,” Hiccup rumbled through a grin.

“Quiet you,” she said to her natural-born child. “I’m having a moment with my son.”

Jack slipped an arm around her and held her tight. His throat tightened with emotion and left him unable to speak for a few seconds. He glanced over at his new husband. Hiccup’s smile came from deep down. Around them the revelers cheered the remaining dancers. A few called out more congratulations to Hiccup and Jack. They waved and gave thanks.

“Well, Jack,” Valka quietly said, “does this feel mortal yet?”

“I suppose it does, but mainly…” and then he paused as he looked around the villagers making a grand time of it.

“But mainly what?” Hiccup asked when the pause lasted too long.

“Mainly… I’m happy. I don’t think it takes being mortal to understand that,” Jack replied and looked down at his one free hand. “I can feel it in my flesh… my bones. Before I came to Berk, I think I forgot what that felt like.”

Hiccup and Valka exchanged a glance. Above all others except Fishlegs perhaps, they understood the importance of the statement. Time and again the newly wed Viking recalled Jack’s Father Moon saying he would return to Earth more than Jack could expect. In that one phrase, Hiccup believed he and Berk, all of Halla, fulfilled the wish of the extremely powerful entity called Elada by the immortals of Halla. The seemingly immortal elemental man remembered anew the blood and skin he lost so long ago.

“I’m happy, too,” Hiccup said, and he meant it.

“Well, I’ll be,” Valka remarked.

“It’s not that unusual, Mom.”

“No, not that, Hiccup. Gustav, Astrid, and Pole won the dance.”

Hiccup winced. The young woman called Pole got named Polecat by her parents. When she bonded with a thunderclaw, all the dragon rides immediately referred to her as Pole without Hiccup’s prompting. It pleased him such a young rider could out-step most of the senior riders in the Dance of the Dragons. He, along with Jack and Valka, clapped and cheered the winners. As the final dancers left the dancing square, the band played a more sedate yet festive tune. Valka pushed her son and son-in-law toward the square.

“You owe yourselves a dance together,” she told them. “And that’s an order.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jack said and drew his body up to attention.

“Oh, be off with you,” the woman snickered.

Hand in hand the two men walked out to the dancing square. Jack recognized the tempo as a waltz, although the Berkians called it a three-step. When they reached a spot where they could proceed, they each held out their arms to take lead. Hiccup and Jack stared at each other for a moment, and then started to laugh.

“Call odd or even,” Hiccup said as he placed a hand behind his back. “Winner leads this dance, and then we switch back and forth.”

“Good plan,” Jack responded and also placed a hand behind his back.

“One… two… three,” the Viking performed the countdown. “Go!”

Their hands flew outward while Jack called even. He won. Of course, he studied the Berkians for over ten years and saw they tended toward even numbers. Jack guessed Hiccup would hold out a single finger to try and mix it up. He also revealed a single finger.

“How do you manage to win this so much?”

“Did I ever tell you about leprechauns?” Jack asked and held out his arms in the lead position.

“Something tells me I don’t want to know, but… no, you didn’t,” Hiccup said as he stepped into the hold.

From that point on Hiccup and Jack rarely left the dance square. People ferried drink to them when they asked. Each man danced with numerous partners, male and female alike, who wanted a nuptial dance since Vikings considered it good luck. Periodically they pushed people away so they could enjoy a dance together. The afternoon spun into evening as the ale got drank, the food consumed, and the music played.

The full moon shown on the village of Berk when, well after the midnight hour, all the musicians called it quits. Small groups of people banded together to help clean and tidy the square. The scraps of leftover food got thrown to the dragons, and the terrible terrors instigated a full scale dragon scrum as they tried to claim it all. Hiccup and Jack made a final round to thank the last of the guests. It surprised them when they found Fishlegs and Groanhilde waiting for them with young Haloke asleep in a sling across Groanhilde’s chest. The newlyweds strolled toward them.

“There’s a precious girl,” Jack said and leaned down to kiss the sleeping one-year old on the forehead.

The three Vikings grinned. Despite all the changes over the years, Jack could not stop himself from looking after the children first. Whether Astrid’s, Ruffnut’s, Tuffnut’s, or any of the countless others on the island, the Guardian hidden in Hallan skin always made time for and never lost his patience with even the most unruly of Viking offspring. Half the time he acted more childish than them. Only a select few understood what compelled the skinny man.

“She’s going to be angry she didn’t get play with you, Jack,” Groanhilde chided him through a smirk.

“She knows where to find me,” he replied as a small, private smile stayed on his face while he looked down as the sleeping child. Then he looked up and smiled at the parents. “Thank you for everything you did to make today perfect. We couldn’t have done this without either of you. You’re a marvel.”

“Hear! Hear!” Hiccup readily agreed.

“We wanted to let you know before we headed home that IceSpike and Toothless are curled up with Meatlug at our place. We thought you might actually want a night alone,” Fishlegs told them.

The newlyweds glanced at each other and shrugged.

“Or maybe not,” the stoutest of the Vikings intoned.

“Fishlegs, you do realize with the exception of half a year, Jack and I have lived together for twelve years?” Hiccup inquired, and Jack could hear him struggling to not be sarcastic.

“But it’s your wedding night!”

“Oh, Fishlegs, you old romantic,” Groanhilde teased him. “You did notice neither one of them wore purple?”

Hiccup and Jack snorted. In an ancient Viking tradition, a virgin bride would wear purple to indicate her chaste state. Since Vikings tended to be rather lax regarding sex before marriage or any other time, the Vikings only knew about the old custom, but no one in living memory actually followed it. The perilous lives they lived meant some pleasures needed to be taken while still alive.

“Yeah, no purple here,” Jack said in a low voice. “But what did you think of my outfit?”

“Well, you know my reaction,” Fishlegs rejoined as his cheeks grew red.

“He cried,” the Earthling stated through a smile.

“He blubbered, Jack, and you know it,” Groanhilde remarked. “Said you looked almost like you did the first time he met you.”

“You look so handsome in that. When I saw you… it was stunning,” Hiccup softly said and twined his fingers more tightly tightly with his mate’s.

“You’re not going to believe this, but it was your mother’s idea. She said she wanted to see her son marry a Guardian, and she helped put the outfit together,” Jack informed the trio of adults.

Hiccup smiled and shook his head.

“Speaking of stepping back in time, Hiccup, you used to wear something like that when we were young,” Groanhilde quipped.

“Snotlout came up with this when I couldn’t figure out what to wear. I thought it seemed… I guess weirdly appropriate.”

“I remember you in clothes like than when I first got here,” Jack murmured. “Didn’t you have a fuzzy vest to go with it?”

“Sheepskin, and I was not going that far. That’s why I wore this ridiculous sash Astrid made me wear,” Hiccup grumbled about the irritating piece of clothing.

“No, she had it right. Ties all your clothing together. Where’d you get that brooch?” Fishlegs commented and inquired.

“I made it. This… used to be a medallion on my Dad’s sword scabbard. The backing and pin I made from metal I shaved off of one of Gobber’s old hammers. I wanted something of them with me… with us.”

A moment of silence swept over the small group. Jack held tightly to Hiccup’s hand as the emotions raced through him. He alone never met Stoick the Vast, but he heard enough stories over the years to the point where he felt he knew the man. Jack saw his husband glance around with a slightly far away look on his face.

“Know what, Hiccup?” He rhetorically asked. “Why don’t we take the night for ourselves? IceSpike and Toothless are probably already asleep. They can always get into the house if they really want to.”

Hiccup slowly nodded his head. He smiled at Fishlegs and Groanhilde. After which he aimed it at Jack.

“Just go and be with each other alone for once,” Fishlegs exhorted them while his wife beamed at them.

And they did exactly that.


	2. Chapter 2

Vikings did not go on honeymoons in the sense Jack understood. Weeks before the wedding ceremony, he explained a few of the Earth customs to Hiccup and his very closest friends. More than a few aligned with Viking customs, but the notion of a honeymoon proved rather novel. The idea a newly married couple would sneak off for a week or two to be alone and enjoy one another sounded dubious to most. In then end, Hiccup and Jack decided to postpone an Earth-type honeymoon. Life simply carried on much as it did any other day. They worked in their shops, conducted their daily personal affairs, and wended through life with their wedding day a joyous memory, but not one that completely altered their lives.

Jack, however, could not leave the concept of a honeymoon alone. As he contemplated the exact meaning of such an activity, he began to see it more as a vacation tied intimately to the wedding. For over twelve years he lived and worked on Halla, but never once during that time did he or Hiccup, or anyone else he knew on Berk, take a specific period of time off from daily routines to rest and relax, except perhaps the odd day here or there. He excluded feasts and holidays since the entire island participated in those. The longer Jack thought of it, the more he wanted a honeymoon for himself and Hiccup. After three eight-days of cogitation, his playful mind took control and he began to plan. He did so quietly at first, but then his scheme started to involve others, and one person in particular.

“That’s an interesting idea,” Hiccup said a month after the wedding as the high summer day approached.

“Your Jack thought it up first and presented it me,” Nilsborg said in his deep bass voice. “Personally, you’d be doing me more of a favor than the t’other way ‘round, Hiccup. You guard my ship with them dragons of yours, and I’ll ferry you wherever you want t’go on the way back from the Quezchtal trading island.”

“But we’re talking – what? – five or six eight-days away from Berk?” The lean Viking asked, and it conveyed more than one question.

“Six t’eight really.”

“Hiccup is two months in thirty-three years really that much to ask?” Jack countered as he sipped some of the wine Nilsborg brought to the evening meal

Hiccup glanced between his husband and the trader. He could smell a plot from a league away, and Jack acted far to coy about the idea to disguise his genuine interest. Although many might complain about their absence, the notion of seeing parts of the world he only ever heard about intrigued him. Jack saw far more of Halla than Hiccup during his brief tenure as Isemaler, and Hiccup always envied his mate that fact.

“I suppose Mouldy and Farb can run the smithy during that time, and Fishlegs can make sure they don’t screw anything up. You can reach some agreement with Snotlout about the workshop,” Hiccup began his form of decision making aloud. “Astrid, Rancid, Gustav, and Mom can take care of the dragons and the riders. It’s not like we’d be leaving the island in any desperate condition.”

Jack saw a shadow pass across his mate’s face, and memories of the civil war could be heard in his final statement. This time, however, Hiccup would not be leaving in anger or resentment, and they would return. The former chief of the clan sat in his work clothes, an empty plate before him with a cup half filled with sweet southern wine, and pursed his lips as he thought. The man hiding a Guardian deep within his flesh understood the look.

“When do you need an answer, Nils?” Hiccup asked.

Nilsborg, a man at or just over fifty years of age but with a body made strong by a life spent at sea, sat and cupped his chin in one hand. The Berkians saw the scars on his arms and hands since he only wore a summer leather jerkin over his broad chest. Some nicks and scars could be attributed to being a sailor as both younger men knew an old rope burn when they saw it, but many looked too clean and precise. Those marks spoke of sharp-edged objects. The life of an ocean-going trader, especially for one who traveled as broadly as Nilsborg, often proved treacherous from both pirates and storms. A ship traveling with two dragons would be less prone to ransacking.

“Let’s see, if’n I head west and then north t’catch the north current and swing back this a-way, it’d put me out roundabout at least a month and a half,” the trading captain mumbled and then sat more upright. “Means we’d take southern late summer current off the eastern tides and swing westward once past midworld. It’d put us in Quezchtal in a month.”

“How long to get back?” Jack piped up and toyed with the fish bones on his plate.

“North current after midworld in middle fall runs strong as the waters cool and sink. No more than three weeks t’get back to Berk at the worst of it. Gives me a solid week of trading and loading up if’n you’d be willing t’lend a hand time to time. We’d be making water and food stops here and there, so you’d get t’see a fair bit of the hot islands on the top side of the world, too,” the man explained.

As Jack listened, it became quite clear the Hallans knew their world to be round. Moreover, Nilsborg’s detailed knowledge of currents and effects of seasonal changes proved a long history of maritime activity. Even without the aid of good longitude measuring, the Hallans managed to traverse vast oceanic distances on their planet. Nearly twelve years before when he used to sail through the skies, Jack recalled seeing lonely ships navigating through the empty stretches of water on the planet. Their courage in the face of the unknowns on the open seas never failed to impress.

“See, Hiccup? Two months at the most. Just think of everything you’d get to see and experience. Plus who knows what interesting odd and ends and bits we’d get to pick up here and there,” Jack said, and lace his words with a tangible excitement.

“Oh, if’n you’re wanting to make a nice bit of gold here and there, bring along some of the dragon iron you cook up. I knows you’re a smith, Hiccup, so dragon iron knives, daggers, and swords would go down a treat in some of t’places we’d be stopping. If’n you can lay up enough pieces, I’d be willing to give you hold space for a small percentage of your take on the trade or sale,” Nilsborg suggested, and the trader light gleamed in his eyes.

“That is something more to think about,” Hiccup mumbled and glanced around with a far off expression. His mate could see the gears whirling faster in the russet-haired head. “And we’ve only been slow and steady at the smith.”

“You could always teach me smithing like you’ve wanted to do for the last ten years, and I could lend a hand,” Jack added.

“Not enough time to do more than show you how to properly sharpen a blade, but it’d be handy if you made some grip stocks for swords and daggers… even some special wood handles for knives.”

“The more it catches the eye, the heavier the gold in the hand,” the trader captain said through something close to a lascivious a smile.

It dawned on Jack that he accidentally made a true ally out of Nilsborg with the possibility of expanding his trade goods. Most everyone on Berk clamored for gronckle iron weapons. They proved lighter in weight, held a sharp edge for longer periods of time, resisted further corrosion once a good patina got established, and did not chip or shatter like steel – even the improved steel they began making for the Etuchaand battle – if the blades did not get completely frozen. Over time Fishlegs experimented with and improved the original recipe for gronckle iron and kept it secret. Berk often made and traded the specialized metal with other allied clans as a token of good will.

“I know Jack said this was supposed t’be special trip away for you, but this’d give you a real chance t’mingle with foreigners down there and get a good look-see for yourselves,” the man piled on more bait.

“How long will it be before you reach Staltveldt?” Hiccup asked.

“Oh, roundabouts two weeks depending on the winds,” Nilsborg offered his estimation.

The Viking dragon rider nodded. The Berkian council, under the guidance of Fishlegs and Valka, worked for years at establishing better ties with the clans and islands within a dragon’s flight distance. It already dampened lingering hostilities and prevented at least one war when access to fishing waters came under dispute. Instead of bloody melee, the Berkians and Staltveldtans worked out an amiable resolution. An incorrect interpretation of the treaty got spread about, and other clans believed the Berk dragon forces now protected Staltveldt. A further agreement with Staltveldt left the rumor intact, and it reduced tensions along the western end of the archipelago for a number of islands. Berk’s ability to defeat the Knusehode, along with many other marauding bands, and keep the Manglers at bay got mentioned more often than not. A peace unlike anything the Viking clans ever experienced began to take root, and they all liked it.

“There’ll be a terrible terror waiting for you at Staltveldt letting you know what we decided. You know Urthelred?” Hiccup explained and inquired. The man nodded so he continued. “The terror will be with him and his brood. They get on well with terrible terrors…”

“You mean his brood scares them,” Nilsborg quipped through a grin and proved he did indeed know Urthelred and his clan.

“Not as bad as the Thorstons…”

Jack’s bark of laughter interrupted Hiccup, but Hiccup grinned. Nilsborg did as well. Hiccup held out a hand. The captain took it.

“It’s a tempting idea, all of it,” Hiccup began, “but there’re details I need to figure out here first. A week will give me enough time to find out what I need to know and another week to get a terror to Staltveldt.”

“Fair enough, and fair of you t’spare me the time on the swing ‘round if’n this can’t be arranged. Can’t see what’d get in the way of this ripe plum deal, but you know your people a fair sight better than me, Hiccup.”

A mirthless, rueful smirk slipped across Hiccup’s mouth. Jack understood the cause.

“Now that we’ve got this settled, I need you, Jack, t’tell me ‘bout that steaming basket what you got there,” Nilsborg said and pointed to the device Jack used to make the fish. “Never bit into a more tender fillet than this.”

Thus the trio capped their evening repast with a spirited discussion on how to best prepare fish. Nilsborg got some excellent tips and departed with the reason he needed to make weigh with the morning tide. The man captained a fairly large trading ship that allowed him to sail on the wider oceans and seas. The small crew helped maintain the ship, and Hiccup and Jack suspected all of them made a very comfortable living if they could afford to sail the vessel to far flung places. When Nilsborg left, Hiccup returned to Jack casting a watchful eye on him.

“To answer your first question: yes, I want to do this,” Hiccup said in a direct manner, “but I want to talk to the council, Mom, Fishlegs, and Mouldy first. I want everyone on Berk to know what we’re planning long before it happens. It’ll give them time to get used to the idea we’ll be gone for two months… with a promise to come back… no matter how tempting those other islands might seem.”

Jack smiled at the manner in which his mate piled one qualifier after another onto his tentative agreement to the honeymoon plan. Although they did not use the word honeymoon, Jack felt it came as close as they would get. He nodded his head.

“Smart thinking. Plus I need to talk to Snotlout to see if he feels confident enough to man the woodshop while I’m away,” Jack added.

Hiccup walked over, leaned down, and kissed his husband for several long seconds. When he stood, Jack looked up at him with glowing cheeks. A soft expression covered the Viking’s face.

“I know you get tired of hearing me say this, but what you’ve done for Snotlout these past couple of years…”

“Hiccup, I didn’t do much. I maybe gave him the opportunity to prove to everyone he changed for the better and came to terms with the loss of Hookfang. Besides, he more than got even with me by inserting me into his family,” Jack said through a smirk.

“Yeah, I’ll say he did,” Hiccup replied and laughed. “But… I thought about this for two years now, and I’m not sure anyone else could’ve done what you say you didn’t do. And don’t tell me you didn’t look at his carvings in the same way you look at Nick’s work.”

Jack shrugged. Hiccup tapped him on the chest. Jack looked down.

“The Guardian buried in there looked after Snotlout’s needs. Every time I see him walk into the workshop, I keep hearing Nick’s speech about giving in my head. So, yeah, don’t feed me any dung that you made the offer to him ‘cause it made your life easier.”

“Hiccup…”

The Viking cleared his throat while he stood upright, placed his fists on his hips, and said in a loud voice: “When we give, we give to ourselves, too. Giving is always a big knot of ribbons involving many people. A knot you cannot untangle.”

“Someday he’s going to be very happy to hear you listened to him, and that was a pretty good imitation of Nick,” Jack stated. A lump of emotion formed in his chest.

“I know you miss them, Jack, and… I just hope the way this worked out is enough for you in exchange.”

The man with Guardian hidden deep in his bones stood. He wrapped his arms around Hiccup’s neck. Then he leaned forward and kissed the man in the same fashion he used to begin the current conversation. After a minute, Jack leaned back.

“When we give, when we truly give of ourselves without any expectation of getting anything back, then that is real giving and we get so much more in return,” Jack said in a near perfect imitation of his Earth colleague and mentor.

“And you say I was good. It was like Nick said it himself,” Hiccup whispered.

“Never, ever forget what I’m about to tell you,” Jack said in a stern voice. “Every moment I’ve spent on Halla, every moment with you… even when it looked hopeless at times… it’s worth what I gave up. It’s worth more, Hiccup… worth so much more it doesn’t feel like I sacrificed anything. Never forget this, Viking.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

That night their house got filled with a heat no fire, no dragon, could generate.

Three days later a quarter of the Berk population met in the longhouse. Dragon riders and villagers with concerns tied to Hiccup and Jack showed to hear the intentions of the two. Hiccup and Jack explained their plans in every way they could conjure. The day before Jack warned Hiccup not to ask for permission from the clan, but rather to simply state what they would do. After a short debate of why Jack made the request, Hiccup agreed. Thus, in their discussion with family and friends, they made it clear they intended to take trip. Hence, people wanted to make contingent plans for their absence. Although the meeting got heated at times over small details in a purely Viking fashion, no one left the gathering feeling confused or threatened by their planned excursion.

“Why didn’t we think of that?” Astrid said as the group of close friends sat around one of the large tables after the meeting dispersed. She slapped her husband on the arm.

Hundfus shrugged as others snickered.

“Sounds like a lovely idea,” Groanhilde indirectly agreed. “You two might be starting a new tradition.”

“You’ve pretty much re-wrote a lot of the rules ‘round here anyway,” Hundfus remarked in an offhanded manner.

Even his wife threw him an askance look.

“No, Hund is right,” Snotlout said after wiping apple juice from his upper lip. “And it’s a good thing to. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the last few years have been really good… after… all that.”

Since they sat in mixed company where some did not know about the events surrounding Isemaler and the fight with the ancient evil being from Earth, they needed to be circumspect in how they spoke. Bristlechin, Hundfus, Sassa, and Smellied did not seem to pick up on the strange partial reference.

“We’re more accepting of differences now,” Fishlegs added.

“Then why don’t we get invited to parties more often?” Tuffnut interjected and slapped a hand on the tabletop. “Wait a second. Why don’t we have parties more often?”

“Because there’s flipping barnyard living in the dining room,” Bristlechin, his wife, said and cackled with amusement.

“They would make wonderful hosts,” Tuffnut said with a touch of indignity. “And I don’t think you should be calling our children animals.”

“She’s not wrong,” his sister countered.

“We do got Isemalerdag,” Smellied, Ruffnut’s husband, opined and cast an odd look at his wife. “That’s a party of sorts.”

“And a good one,” Jack stated. “But it’s in winter.”

“Right when we need a good party,” Ruffnut grunted.

A murmur of agreement whipped around the table.

“You’re forgetting about Midsommer, and that’s coming up,” Hiccup reminded them.

His eyes darted around the table. Most of the people sitting there he knew since infancy. Only Jack and Sassa arrived in his adult years. In each of the individuals gathered around him, he could see he entire life laid out from moment to moment. He started to smile.

“Oh, gods, he’s going to try and burn down our house again,” Ruffnut rumbled.

“Not quite,” Hiccup said. “I just… well, except for Sassa and Jack, I remember what each of you looked like as children. The weird part is you don’t look that much different.”

“Maybe a little fuller in places here or there,” Groanhilde commented and patted her stomach.

“That’s ‘cause only some of us physically had children,” Astrid muttered and shot the men a fierce glance.

“Ruff tried to cut my legs off half way through her last pregnancy,” Smellied whispered at the mention of childbirth.

“It was just a Loki dream. And I stopped way before I even got near you with an axe,” his wife dismissed his complaint.

“Belch stopped you.”

“Is anything normal at your house?” Sassa inquired as she sat next to Snotlout and held his hand.

“It’s just run-of-the-mill,” Tuffnut answered and waved away her concerns.

“You’re heading down a long, strange road if you start asking those questions, Sassa,” Astrid warned.

Snotlout nodded. His shoulder touched Sassa’s. It appeared she leaned in toward him.

Jack looked over at his friend, and he saw the way Sassa looked at him. He smiled inwardly. She got involved in the wedding planning because she accompanied Jack to Berk the supposed first time he arrived at the island and supposedly formed a link to his past. Captain Gudmund and the Munin brought Jack to Berk after finding him sitting alone in front of a small fire on a deserted outcropping of rock in the sea. They landed only to find the civil war in full swing. Sassa helped with the injured and wounded because she received healer training at her native home. She stayed when the Munin set sail. Within a few years no one questioned her presence and most assumed her to be a Berk-born woman they could not quite place. She worked with Nichrank and Valka in tending to the injured, sick, or wounded of any species. Jack never did find out how she got drafted by the Jorgensons as they assisted in preparing for Hiccup and Jack’s wedding. However, she took a liking to Snotlout, and Jack wholly approved.

“So, Snotlout, think you’re up to running the woodshop while I’m gone?” Jack asked on the heels of his private thoughts and leaned over to the table to get a look at his friend.

“I guess,” Snotlout replied with a shrug. “If I can’t figure something out, it’ll have to wait ‘til you get back. Is that all right?”

“You won’t hear me complain!”

Several people chuckled.

“And Mouldy and Farb are up to taking over the forge?” Fishlegs inquired of Hiccup.

“Believe it or not, they’re actually good smiths. Farb just gets lazy, but Mouldy really knows his stuff. They’ll do fine,” he answered.

“Whoa!” Tuffnut blurted. “When did we turn into adults? I mean, listen to us! Snotlout is going to run a shop. Hiccup has apprentices. Most of us got children. I was not ready for this!”

“Do you think our parents felt like this? That it’s happening all too fast and weren’t ready?” Astrid queried the group.

“Not my father. He was splitting rocks with his head when he was a baby and always knew he’d be chieftain one day. I don’t think he ever felt unprepared,” Hiccup stated to those gathered around him and to the memory of his father.

“Stoick was a natural,” Ruffnut quietly asserted.

“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Jack blurted. “I’ve seen each and every one of you do amazing things your parent’s would never dream of doing. You folks, the ones gathered around this table right now, changed the future of Berk. I feel sorry for the ones who come after you when they try to live up to what you’ve already done and gods know what else you’re going to do.”

“Look who’s talking?” Hiccup rumbled.

Those who knew the truth about his real past wore smug, knowing expressions. Jack felt his cheeks heat up a bit. Four of those at the table appeared a bit confused. He watched Hiccup’s eyes flick to each one.

“Uh, aren’t you the one who tamed Hiccup and got him to marry you?” Astrid, of all people, rhetorically asked.

“And what about all the ideas you’ve dreamed up over the years. Half the stuff on Berk has got some of your handiwork in it now,” Fishlegs added and did a poor job of keeping his face from breaking into a grin.

“Funniest person I know,” Groanhilde chimed in with her husband. Then she, too, struggled to keep a straight face as she said: “And you’ve got this way with children.”

“Oh, yeah, Stone and Norna love you to death,” Hundfus agreed. He jerked his thumb in the direction of Ruffnut and Tuffnut. “And I’ve seen you rolling down the hills with their lot more than few times.”

“It’s a totally different madness that gets going when you show up,” Bristlechin said as she glanced around from her husband to brother-in-law to sister-in-law and finally to Jack.

“Okay, okay, enough,” Jack grumbled and held up his hands. “I get the point. I’m a big kid, but… gods, who doesn’t love a good mud pie contest on a rainy summer day?”

“Or a snowball fight?” Hiccup mentioned and his eyes gleamed.

From then on they began to recount various stories of the absurdities each one of them engaged in at various times. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, of course, lead the pack with the most stories told. Sassa laughed with glee as she listened while the group of friends talked deep into the evening of their past adventures. Jack felt them erase more of the ten years they spent estranged from one another. If he felt any sort of triumph regarding his actions on Halla, then helping reunite Hiccup with his friends stood near the top of the list. He bathed in the warmth of their friendship as he heard more than a few new tales. That he got included in their camaraderie only added further proof to what Nick said about giving.

The next day Hiccup saw to sending a terrible terror to Staltveldt with a message for Nilsborg. After the meeting with the villagers and the night spent chatting with his friends, not a single care or worry resided in his head about Berk fending for itself during their absence. A swell of pride grew in him that he, Fishlegs, his mother, and Gobber actually succeeded in getting the people of Berk to look after themselves and their future. The governing council hit rough patches from time to time, but the rules they put into place usually stopped them from overreacting to changing circumstances. Berk became a place where Hiccup wanted to live. Moreover, he learned to love is people in new and increasingly powerful ways. Thus, feeling confident he could leave for two months and return to a smoothly functioning island left him jubilant.

Jack shared in the sentiment, but for a few different reasons. He got his first real evidence that Hiccup no longer felt chained and trapped by Berk. In the preceding two years, the personality that attracted the Earthling to the Hallan resurfaced. Jack gloried and reveled in being able to fall in love with Hiccup anew. His initial misgivings about almost completely severing himself from Earth faded far, far into the background. True, he would always miss flying as the fabled Isemaler, the immortal Jack Frost, but life of Jack Fries recently wed to Hiccup Haddock and as the rider of IceSpike removed that sting. Jack loved his mortal life with great intensity. Hence, he felt certain the planned trip with Hiccup would become a shining jewel in his memories.

“They are not going to like cages,” Hiccup said two weeks later when Jack showed him the drafts of a new plan.

“These are not cages, Hiccup,” Jack replied and ran his hand through his hair in an agitated manner. “They need some place to sit on deck and be protected from the sun.”

“And you got permission to do this from Nilsborg?”

“No, but I’ll bet you a new set of gronckle iron planes against a new tool cabinet he’ll ask how we plan to house on them on the ship. Do you really think there’s enough room for two dragons in the hold?”

Hiccup eyed his mate. Once again Jack displayed his clever mind by thinking ahead first. As he glanced at the plans, they began to make a lot of sense. Furthermore, the Earthling presented a bet with such certainty Hiccup refrained from accepting it.

“Okay, Mister Smart Yak, what you are going to make ‘em out of, huh? Sea water is hard on wood and you’ve got less than a month to squeeze building them into your schedule,” Hiccup rejoined as he thought better of the wager.

“Oh, I’ll have more than enough time to build one for IceSpike,” Jack sweetly replied.

“And Toothless?”

“I did draw up the plans for you.”

Hiccup blinked and stared at him while holding his plate.

“Hiccup?”

“I just thought…” he quietly said and tapered off.

“Hold on. You stand there and make fun of me for thinking this through and then you expect me to make yours?” Jack rejoined in a flat voice.

“You, um, are the, ah, woodworker, Jack.”

“Sit down and eat your dinner before it gets too cold.”

The Viking obeyed. He mentally noted Jack did not said he only teased. He spooned some of the thick soup into his mouth and kept an eye on his husband. Jack, for his part, did not completely decide if he would let Hiccup attempt to build the deck house for Toothless. In the back of his mind he already estimated how long it would take to fix any mistakes Hiccup made or just build a new one altogether.

“So I want to go out to the old skrill island and harvest some of the standing trees there. They’ve been so thoroughly blasted by the skrill I bet they’re hard as stone. Any wood we get from them will last ten times longer than what we need,” Jack mused out loud.

“Probably,” Hiccup said in a small voice.

“I’m not going to build it for you,” Jack replied to the tone.

“Jack, come on,” the Viking heaved. “I’m working on all those daggers and knives to trade, and I’ve got to work off the barter with Fishlegs for the gronckle iron.”

“Uh, I’m helping with the daggers and knives making and finishing all those hilts and handles, and I already paid off my trade with Fishlegs and Groanhilde. I fixed a quarter of the furniture in their house and re-cased two of their windows.”

“I know, but you didn’t have as many back orders…”

“Oh, don’t say it or you really are building the dragon deck house on your own,” Jack quickly interjected as he narrowed his eyes. “The work I do may not be as physically demanding as yours, but it is more mentally taxing… and you try stooping over inlay work for ten hours. I hate it when you compare your craft to mine.”

“Sorry, sorry. You’re right,” Hiccup apologized. “But you do realize how easy you make it look?”

Jack started to open his mouth.

“That was a compliment by the way, and I meant it,” the Viking quickly interjected. “You should hear Snotlout complain about trying to replicate the joinery you do. Plus he says you can find the smallest imperfection in piece he spent hours sanding. Jack, you create these… intricate pieces that are damn near impossible to break and it doesn’t even look like you sweat.”

“I wear that headband so sweat doesn’t spoil a freshly sanded or finished piece of wood,” Jack purposely responded to a one-off topic to goad his husband.

Hiccup feigned sneering at him, and then said: “When we get back, you need to take on some apprentices so these skills of yours don’t get lost.”

“I don’t want apprentices. There’s barely enough room in the workshop for both me and Snotlout.”

“Then maybe it’s time we built a separate shop for you. You spend half your time complaining about the forge soot and hot metal cinders. Remember when that chest you made for Applewart got those little pinhole burns in the finish? I thought you were going to pour water on the forge. It would’ve exploded.”

“Yeah, I did get a little angry about that one,” Jack mumbled, and then added: “But it took me four or five hours to fix it, so it’s not like I didn’t have cause.”

“I agree, and that’s why you should think about your own shop. It’ll give Snotlout more room to work and you can take on two or three people to train. Some of the older teenagers who don’t fly dragons and have older brothers and sisters need something to do. Try ‘em out and find a couple with some talent who’d be willing to apprentice to you.”

The passion with which Hiccup spoke pushed Jack down the path of accepting the idea. He wanted to think about it. Without a proper building of his own, it would be impossible, and the summer already got promised to other activities. They could spend the winter designing a new woodshop and gathering supplies for when the weather changed. In that moment, Jack realized he already bought into the plan. He slowly shook his head.

“Makes sense, doesn’t it?” Hiccup egged him on.

“Maybe… yeah,” Jack grumbled and looked everywhere except across the table.

“Did you know that except for gronckle iron stuff, the pieces you and Snotlout work on all bring in the best trades. It’s not just Nilsborg, either. Járnsaxa always leaves with a bunch of your pieces. She says she makes a fortune off those little tables and chests you knock together. Same with Lothgir. Didn’t you ever notice your bench is always empty by the end of trading days?”

Jack, in truth, never noticed. He mainly wanted to clear out items that never made it to a complete trade on Berk. Moreover, most of what he traded with the sea captains he usually made in his off-time out of scraps of wood. He would hardly call them his best work. If Hiccup tried to win him over, then he began to succeed.

“Are you just trying to butter me up so I’ll make your damn dragon house?” He spoke aloud his suspicions.

“Yea and no,” Hiccup honestly replied. “Yes because anything you make will be ten times better than what I can put together. No because what I told you is the truth, and you know it. I don’t know what you learned three hundred and thirty or forty years ago, but you learned it well.”

Jack smirked at the well placed compliment. He saw the expression on Hiccup’s face change. The mood at the table shifted a little as well.

“We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?” His mate asked and sounded a bit astounded by it. Then he crammed a spoonful of soup into his mouth,

“We sure are. Nobody’s really complained about it. Snotlout will at least keep the shop from collecting dust. You and Fishlegs don’t have any big projects going on, so… yeah, we’re going.”

Hiccup swallowed and said: “Mom, Astrid, Rancid, and Gustav just sort of shrugged and said they would handle the dragon patrols. Mouldy and Farb can take care of themselves and the forge. You know, it kind of scares me when things work out exactly like we planned.”

Jack nodded as he chewed on a hunk of bread.

“It’s not like we haven’t been close to midworld.”

“Clothe…” Jack tried to say and swallowed before continuing. “Close, but only in the northern parts. We’re going to Quezchtal, Hiccup, and I only ever just flew over it. I never stopped. This is going to be amazing.”

Hiccup began to grin like a fool as Jack’s voice dropped down to a whisper.

“The city on the edge of the jungle. All those different people. Animals… animals that don’t have any counterpart on earth. The food. The tastes and smells. I can’t really imagine what it will be like,” the Earthling spoke with awe dripping from his lips.

“This is all yours, Jack. You came up with the idea. You started haggling with Nilsborg… and you know he’s going to ask you and me to fix a ton of things on his ship,” Hiccup began with the same excitement, and then shifted to a different tone.

“Been thinking about that. We’re already covering this trip by using the dragons as protection. He said he wants a percentage off anything we make in trading to cover the hold space, so I’m thinking we chisel away at that if he asks us to do any other work I didn’t plan on doing in the first place. This is supposed to be a vacation,” Jack replied as he tore small hunks of bread from his slice and dropped it into his soup.

“I was thinking the same thing, and I’m not afraid to tell him no if he asks about a repair that’ll take days and days to complete. After everything you told me about honeymoons on Earth, I don’t remember you saying people worked their way through it. You made it sound like it was all about sex.”

“It sort of is. I guess the original intent was to give a new couple the chance to get pregnant right away, but it really took on different a different meaning over the last hundred and fifty years or so on Earth.”

“Well, I highly doubt we’re gonna get pregnant ‘les there’s something you’ve been hiding really, really, really well,” Hiccup wryly intoned.

Jack began laughing and shook his head.

“So I guess it’s just sex and relaxation for us.”

“What if we don’t have a private room? Think his crew is going to enjoy, ah… watching us?” Jack inquired.

Hiccup sat up as his face twisted into a somewhat disgusted expression. Although the Vikings took a fairly lax view on sex, they did tend to keep it private. Everyone understood the mechanics of what everyone else did, but they never spoke about it. The Thorstons, however, never feared asking for details or extremely intimate questions. The late Isemaler also did not respect personal boundaries. On more than one occasion Hiccup and Jack caught the elemental young man watching them as they physically enjoyed each other. Isemaler never passed judgment, but he did ask several times how they decided who did what to whom. It regularly made Hiccup furious. However, their private business performed in front of Nilsborg’s crew seemed even more distasteful.

“That is never going to happen,” Hiccup said in a flat, stern voice. “Besides, I pretty certain he understands exactly what we’re about.”

“Are you saying he’s like us?”

“No. I don’t think he is, but he’s been trading with us for – what? – seven or eight years now. It’s not like we keep anything secret.”

Jack’s head bobbed a little as he considered that aspect. Since the first day when Jack returned to Hiccup from the grip of The Breathless One, they never kept the nature of their relationship a secret from anyone. People saw them goof around in intimate ways with each other, hold hands, kiss, and act pretty much like every other couple on the island. Moreover, the general acceptance and excitement over their wedding when they announced their betrothal proved just much the people of Berk did not make an issue of their sexuality.

“Hiccup, what exactly do you think Hundfus meant when he said we’re re-writing the rules?” Jack asked as he thought it.

Hiccup shrugged and replied: “I think maybe he meant people are letting go of old, stupid ideas and learning better ones. Look, our entire relationship with dragons changed everything on this island… not all of it good, but most of it for the better. After that, you and me aren’t big news or shocking.”

“Do you think that’s why Astrid, Snotlout, and the twins were able to accept the truth about me, what I am, where I came from?”

“Oh, I think Etuchaand played a much bigger role in that,” the Viking said in a thoughtful manner. “Besides, when you stopped going back to Earth and haven’t been able to change ever since, it probably gave them a… certain… I guess a margin of comfort. Plus, they really like being in on such a big secret.”

“Snotlout actually said that to me. He promised he’d never tell anyone, but he loves the fact he knows. Said it made him feel special,” Jack rejoined.

“I’m sure it does. The twins think you’re Loki, and Astrid just likes you.”

“Loki? That’s just stu… never mind,” the Earthling said to himself as much as to his husband.

“You do realize that gives you an advantage over them. When was the last time either one of them called you Skinny?” Hiccup reminded him.

Jack simply raised his eyebrows and spooned more soup into his mouth. The hated nickname simply disappeared after the unveiling of the Isemaler statue. Besides bringing the Defenders of Berk together, the fight against the horrendous Earth entity resulted in so many profound and subtle changes Jack lost count. The terrible price they paid for the victory, the loss of the Grimtooth Isemaler, seemed to strip away the petty arguments and grievances. Both Hiccup and Jack would think back to those moments on The Finger of the Gods whenever they began to get angry over minor annoyances. They also learned the art of expressing themselves clearly to one another.

Jack sighed and smiled.

“What?” Hiccup prodded.

“Just looking forward to this trip,” he answered. “And, yes, I’ll make that damn dragon house for you. But you need to come up with some sort of clever gizmo they can use to open and close the door on it. Sort of like the dragon hatch in our roof.”

“Thanks. I was kind of worried I might hurt Toothless with bad construction.”

“You do know I’d never let him go into any substandard piece of work. I, ah, already sort of planned on fixing or rebuilding it after you got done,” Jack confessed through a grin.

Hiccup swallowed and wiped his mouth before saying: “I think I knew you would in the back of my mind, but that doesn’t meant I’d build a piece of garbage on purpose. I was also going to get Fishlegs to help me.”

“You’re already owe him one trade, and he’d probably go pretty steep for something like that.”

“Not when it comes to dragon safety. It goes Groanhilde and Haloke, Meatlug, dragons, and then the rest of us in order of importance for him,” he laid out a fairly logical argument. Then he looked up through his eyebrows. “Jack, do you think maybe the really young… like babies and toddlers can sense what you are deep down inside? Look at the way kids respond to you.”

“I don’t know. I’ve thought about that before. Maybe they can. Hard to say. Dragons don’t react like they used to around me.”

“Yeah, I forgot about that,” Hiccup said and scratched the side of his face with his spoon.

“Putting that aside, when do you want to head out and get wood for this project?” Jack returned to the main topic.

“Better be in the next day or two ‘cause something tells me you’re gonna go through a whole bunch of saw blades.”

With that they began to plan in earnest. They ate their meal and thrashed out a preliminary schedule of what they needed to accomplish in the next four eight-days. While a month could seem like a long time, neither fell into the trap of believing it. They both knew Nilsborg ship would be pulling up to the docks in what would seem like no time.


	3. Chapter 3

Since he ceased his monthly transition to Earth, Jack began sharing more of his observations about time with Hiccup. He repeatedly said he experienced it in a different way as a mortal than as a Guardian. When pressed to explain, Jack came up short in details. However, it seemed relevant as they raced against the passing of time to accomplish all they needed to get done in thirty-two days. While it seemed more than enough at the start, both men quickly changed their assessment.

“I don’t think the sea is going to rot these pens,” Jack said on the evening of the ninth day after their planning session. “I’d love to take some of this back to with me and have Reginald or Phyllis analyze it. I’m not sure skrill strikes are the same as lightning.”

“Why’s that?” Hiccup asked as he stood off to one side examining the hasps and hinges he made for that part of the venture.

“It’s like the wood contracted while the sap underwent instant hardening at the same time. I can barely get a chisel through this, and it’s just oak.”

“I can believe that. You had me making saw blades left and right while you and Snotlout cut it to length. Never saw wood snap teeth like that. Plus… you actually sweated while using the drill… and I spent a long time sharpening those bits for you.”

“We need to think other uses for this stuff, Hiccup. It seems like it’d pair well with… gron… ckle… i… ron,” Jack said and grunted out he last two words as he drove a screw into the perniciously hard wood. “This is insane.”

Hiccup, dressed in his heavy leather pants, thin flax shirt, and prized dragon-hide apron passed down from Gobber, walked over to get a better look. Toothless would be able to curl up nicely on the inside without feeling cramped. He could also stand at a crouch. The door would act like a ramp, and a jointed spring arm lever would allow the dragon to raise and lower the door at will. Two exceedingly clever Vikings experimented on the dragon house Jack completed for IceSpike. The weight of the door became the problem seeking a solution, and Fishlegs suggested a jointed lever arm whereby a fulcrum would reduce the amount of strength needed to move the door. Six failed versions finally led the way to the proper mechanism. A dragon or human could raise and lower the door-ramp with a modicum of effort.

“When you’re done with this and if there’s time, maybe you should make a few knife handles out of some of the scraps. A gronckle iron blade with a skrill-hardened wood handle might be indestructible, and it sounds exotic,” Hiccup suggested.

Jack finished wrestling with another screw before he said: “You’ve really fallen in love with that word: exotic. You’ve been using it all the time.”

“I know you’ve been south of midworld, but not me. Back before we found out Johann was a total traitor,” and Hiccup growled the name, “he used to tell the most fascinating stories about the people and places down there. He didn’t go often ‘cause he didn’t have a big ship, not like Nilsborg and his crew sail, but he still made the trip a couple of times. I always thought maybe I could fly Toothless down there.”

“You’d never make it, at least not in a direct flight. There’s a lot of water between here and Quezchtal. I hope Nilsborg has a map so he can show you the route. We’re going to be island hopping the whole way. There and back.”

“Wait, let me hold that,” the Viking said and held fast to a sideboard Jack attempted to secure to the frame.

“Thanks. Don’t squeeze the spacer so tight or I’ll never get it out of there,” Jack said and began the laborious process of drilling a pilot hole through the pieces. The hand-crank style drill he helped Fishlegs invent made Jack long for electricity and the drill presses he saw on televisions programs back on Earth.

“I saw a map of the world – I think it was the whole world – in one of Vigo’s camps. I wonder why the north half of Halla doesn’t have really huge land masses like they do in the south… or what I saw on your planet?”

“Plate… tec… ton… ics,” the Earthling muttered as he tried to spin the handle on the drill.

The drill bit into the wood, but the density of the fibers and the cement-like quality of the hardened sap made it difficult and slow going. Jack gave up trying to talk while plying his craft against the notoriously tough material. Any thought the sea would destroy the wood died days before. After careful consideration, and soaking a strip in the water for several days, Jack decided against slathering the wood in pitch to act as a preservative. Two months at sea would not affect dragon houses on any appreciable level.

“Want me to explain?” Jack asked when he paused.

“Later. You told me once it’s about how the surface of the world is broken up like a cracked egg shell and the pieces ride on the lava below that…” Hiccup slowly recited what he recalled his husband telling him at one point years before.

“And it changes the way the face of the planet looks over tens and hundreds of millions of years.”

“Just couldn’t resist, could you?”

Jack grinned and then wiped sweat off his face.

“Why don’t you leave off for a while? I’ll cook,” Hiccup offered.

“I want to finish this side first. It’ll take maybe an hour. So if you get started on dinner, I should be home right when you’re done,” Jack accepted but modified the proposition.

“I was just thinking of making some shaved yak sandwiches and cold mashed tubers. Nothing fancy.”

“With some of that hot mustard-like sauce Gottfried whips up?”

“Sure. You know I have no idea what mus-tard is, right?”

“You didn’t have any at Nick’s? Yellow? Creamy? Has a little kick to it… with a vinegar tang?”

Hiccup shook his head back and forth, and then said: “But I’ll cover your sandwich meat in in just the way you like it. Don’t kill yourself out here all night. You’ve got an hour.”

“Just this one side. I promise,” Jack agreed. “Besides, my hands and arms are getting sore.”

Hiccup bit his lip to keep from making any comment. He offered to drill and screw the boards in place, but Jack insisted on doing it himself. He mumbled something about slats and spaces to provide air flow and ventilation. It meant he continued to work out the details as he went along. Thus, Hiccup patted the brown-haired man on the head and wandered out of the shop. As he walked home, he calculated it would take another week of off-time work to produce an ample supply of gronckle iron wares to make it worth their while to trade. Then it would come down to getting Jack to help him finish the pieces. After that they two would needed to begin preparing their and the dragons’ personal items for travel. Once he completed the dragon houses, Jack said he would make two steamer trunks, but he never explained to Hiccup what he meant. The Viking scratched his head as he wandered up the dark path to their home.

A terrible terror messenger arrived a week later with a message from Nilsborg. It stated he managed to keep to his schedule and would arrive at the promised time. Thus, Hiccup and Jack faced one day shy of a week to get everything in order. Their excitement started to grow day by day, and it began to infect everyone around them. Talk in the shop routinely centered around what they would experience and see. Everyone asked them to bring a little something back as a souvenir, and Jack laughed because the request spanned the capacity of their trunks. After receiving the message and the completion of the dragon houses, they shifted to packing.

“Do you have a noticeable lack of clothing?” Jack asked Hiccup the day after the note arrived. “Do we just wear the same thing day in and day out?”

“Looks like it,” Hiccup said after piling ever scrap of clothing he owned on the bed.

Jack did the same. A small swell of shame ran through both men at the state of their entire wardrobe. Clothes threadbare and worn looked as if it belonged to beggars instead of two seasoned craftsman who both made a comfortable living on the island. Only their flight armor, both summer and winter versions, looked in perfect condition. After half an hour of sorting through what amounted to rags, Hiccup and Jack stared at each other.

“Have you ever traded for clothing?” Hiccup asked his mate?

“Yeah… I think. I mean, I know I got some chits around here left over from getting our ceremony outfits,” Jack replied.

“Not that. I meant everyday…”

“I know what what you meant,” the Earthling interrupted. “Maybe I used some five of six years go.”

Again the two men stared at one another.

“Alright. We’re going through every drawer and cupboard in this house and at the shop. We’re going to collect every trade slip we can find and see what we’re missing out on.”

Four hours later a large heap of pieces of parchment and bits of wood rested on the dining table. Shame got replaced by embarrassment. Other than the food and leather trades, neither Hiccup nor Jack did very well at collecting on debts owed to them. Jack rubbed the back of his neck as he scanned the pile.

“No wonder we get so much business: we’re almost working for free,” he stated.

“No kidding,” Hiccup rejoined. “Some of these I recognize from when I apprenticed under Gobber before you even got here.”

“I’ve got almost two hundred chits, Hiccup.”

“I’m well over three hundred.”

“Um, we could do some serious damage to the Berk’s economy if we collected on all of these at the same time,” Jack thought aloud. “Plus… where’d we put all the livestock?”

“We can worry about that when we get back. Do you have any you can use for clothes?” The Viking asked.

Jack dove back into his pile. He separated them according to the trade good listed. Hiccup began to do the same. They stood at opposite ends of their dining table as they sorted. In a few minutes they knew what others owed them.

“I got forty-four for clothing and material,” Hiccup said as he finished his tally.

“Twenty-seven for clothing for me. Some of these are for full outfits,” the Earthling mumbled. “So we go a-calling on our fellow Berkians?”

“Yeah, but let’s only stick to what we need for the trip. I’m willing to bet whatever they prepared they probably used ages ago.”

Jack nodded his head. He stooped over as he subdivided the clothing tickets. He found eleven that did not seem like it would be too costly for the debtor. Hiccup stopped at fifteen. They then compared the names on the receipts, and the review formed their visitation plan. The two men started walking toward the front door.

“You know most of these people are going to be angry with us, right?” Hiccup inquired as he unlatched the door.

“Maybe, but they do owe us. Won’t it be a point of honor for them to settle their debts?”  
Jack countered.

“Oh, you’ve gotten to know us too well, Jackie.”

Jack lightly tapped a snickering Hiccup on the back of the head. Together they called to their dragons who preferred to roost on the roof during warm nights. After closing the door, Hiccup and Jack went off in search of provisions for their honeymoon.

Two hours later they walked back into their house with laden arms.

“Mosshair called us stupid,” Jack complained as he struggled to get through the door.

“No, Jack, she did not,” his husband corrected him.

“Maybe not directly…”

“And is she wrong?” Hiccup interrupted the impending diatribe for a third time.

Jack said nothing.

“And, yes, they’ll be laughing at us all day tomorrow and until we probably leave. Can’t believe how many of them held onto the stuff waiting ‘til we got around to pick it up.”

The Earthling looked down at the pile of clothing he created on one of the living room chairs. Despite the fact they did, indeed, get laughed at by everyone on whom they called, they did not meet with any overt hostility. Viking honor demanded one pay their debts even if the collection happened years after the original bargain. Jack realized he would only need half of what he brought home. Hiccup wound up with even more.

“I guess we do sort of deserve it,” he mumbled.

“Yes, we do, but at least we got new clothes for this adventure,” Hiccup replied and tried to put a positive spin on the situation. “Maybe not the latest fashions, but Vikings don’t care much about that.”

“And don’t forget to bring at least one set of winter clothing.”

Jack’s husband gave him a funny look.

“Hiccup, what’s the difference between fall and winter on Berk?” Jack quietly asked.

“About eight days and eight hours,” Hiccup replied and shook his head. “Never even thought about that. How much of the summer clothing do you think we’ll need?”

“Hmm, I never stopped much in the tropical areas. There’s not a lot of call for The Spirit of Winter Joy around the equator…”

“Ha ha.”

The slightly shorter and equally as skinny man smirked before he said: “I’m thinking five full summer outfits and one winter outfit… oh, and summer flying gear.”

“Is all this going to fit into those steamer… what do you mean by steamer, anyway?” Hiccup began and then sidetracked himself.

“Steamer refers to the steam engine used move ships and trains on Earth,” Jack explained as he picked through his new clothing and decided what to take. “It’s considered old technology now, but it’s still used in a lot of different ways. So people taking a steamship would pack their belongings…”

“In a steamer trunk. My gods you Earth people are clever!”

Jack rolled his eyes at the sarcasm while Hiccup chuckled and replied: “One trunk is for our flight suits and the other is for our personal clothing and other stuff. I liked your idea about just bringing the porch locker with us for the saddles and tack.”

“Hope there’s room enough on the deck of his ship for the two dragon houses and the locker,” Hiccup remarked, but not in mirthful way. “Any idea how you’re going to secure the house to the deck?”

“Won’t know ‘til I see the ship. Might actually take us a day to get it all situated. I hope Nilsborg planned to stay the night in harbor.”

As they continued to deal with their clothing, it astounded both of the men how much time it took to collect and organize the array of smaller items they needed. Astrid, Fishlegs, and Valka asked daily questions about various oddments they might need to consider. The steamer truck Hiccup and Jack shared began to fill at a rapid pace. Jack rearranged their flying gear to make more room for personal items. Hiccup would not allow him to do the same to the equipment locker. However, neither doubted they would be unprepared for the trip.

Six days later Hiccup sat on the edge of the bed rubbing his head. Jack continued to snore. The light stung the Viking’s eyes as he glanced at the stairwell. He began to doubt the wisdom of taking part in Viking parties. More than half the island turned out the night before to wish the couple well on their voyage. It served as a reasonable and simple excuse to celebrate life, and Viking’s liked to celebrate with gusto. The ale and mead flowed to excess, in compliment to the extensive amount of food everyone brought, and the party continued unabated well into the deep hours of the night. Hiccup and Jack staggered home while the revelers made merry without them. Thus, the pounding headache and sensitivity to light seemed logical.

“Get up,” Hiccup said and jostled his mate.

Jack snored.

“Jack!” Hiccup yelled.

Toothless rumbled and IceSpike let out with a grumbling hiss.

“Later,” Jack mumbled and rolled over.

The Viking grabbed the thin sheet and violently jerked it away from the sleeping man. Jack rolled onto his back. His bloodshot eyes cracked open, and a pained grimace covered his face. The light of day stabbed into his brain, and the Earthling thought it the most hateful experience he suffered of late.

“I’m never drinking with Vikings again,” he vowed, and not for the first time. “There’s something wrong with a people who can drink like that.”

Hiccup glanced at his mate, thought of an argument, and then let it drop.

“Nilsborg will be here on the afternoon tide, and we need to get everything down to the docks,” the Viking said and hoped it sufficed as an explanation as to why they rose.

“Two chests, two dragon houses, a locker, and us. How long could that take?” Jack complained and his left hand patted around the bed searching for the sheet.

“It’s more than that,” his mate replied and slid the sheet further away. “Get up. We’ll douse ourselves in that coffee stuff of yours, and that should get us going.”

“My head feel likes a thunderdrum egg.”

“Didn’t Snotlout warn you not to touch the mead?”

Jack ignored the slight and sat up. His body recoiled at the motion and gave serious thought to tossing up whatever might reside in his stomach. He ate too much food. He drank too much ale, mead, and wine. He danced and laughed nearly as much as he did at the wedding. Jack smiled.

“What’s that about?” Hiccup prodded.

“It sure was fun last night,” he said in a more chipper mood as his mind replayed the clearer memories of the party.

“Too much fun. I can barely move. I need coffee… or whatever that muck is.”

“Right. Right. Pull me up when you manage to stand.”

Hiccup snorted and said: “Just roll off the bed and down the stairs. That’s what I’m gonna do.”

Jack started to chuckle. Despite the queasiness of his stomach and the ache in his brain, excitement started to brew elsewhere in his body. All the planning and work they did for over a month would come to fruition when they sailed out of the Berk harbor for their honeymoon. Although Hiccup hardly used the term, Jack held tight to it. He knew his mate looked forward to seeing parts of the world that differed so vastly from the north and archipelago islands. Jack found the energy to move his recalcitrant limbs.

The last of the morning remained a struggle as they pushed themselves into action. They drank two pots of Jack’s not-coffee coffee, and it went to war with their hangovers. It provided the kick the two needed to begin their final preparations. As they moved their gear to the docks, they noticed the village square looked rather empty. People lolled against the sides of their houses or shops to soak up the midday sun. Few paid them any notice as the people of Berk nursed themselves from a night of merrymaking.

“Do you have the daily checklists?” Hiccup asked his colleagues once he and his husband returned to forge.

“Aye, not like you haven’t gone over it with us every day for a bleeding week,” Mouldy groused. “I damn near got them memorized.”

Fartbritches leaned against his anvil with arms folded across his chest. Hiccup spent any available hour he could find instructing his journeymen smiths. They seemed to resent the abundance of instruction. However, during that phase of preparation for departure, Hiccup began to understand the degree to which they served Berk. Their work spanned the island from the docks to the dragon cave. It gave him an inkling as to why he tended to know more about the goings on around Berk then he ever wanted.

“Good… ‘cause it’s a lot of work,” the master smith rounded on the man. “Never realized before how much we do.”

“Yeah, and we don’t get a lot of thanks for it,” Fartbritches complained.

“When was the last time you thanked Bucket for tending the sheep?”

Fartbritches frowned, and Hiccup knew he made his point.

“Look, I’m not going to be here to think this through for you if something goes wrong, and that’s why I did all this. It’s in your hands, guys, so don’t mess it up!”

Mouldy continued to appear aggrieved at the continued lecturing. Hiccup did it more for Fartbritches’ sake since the junior of the two journeymen did not always pay attention to details. Mouldy, on the other hand, proved his competence years before. Despite that, the master smith did not want to make it appear Fartbritches got singled out. He hoped Mouldy would pick up on the cues.

“I don’t care who does what, just make sure nothing falls apart. I trust you two; otherwise I wouldn’t being heading off. Berk depends on you,” Hiccup said in a less strident tone.

Mouldy narrowed his eyes.

“He’s really letting them have it,” Snotlout whispered to Jack as they stood side-by-side reviewing the production schedule.

“A lot of what he said applies to you, too,” Jack warned his friend. “It’ll mostly be small repairs. Watch out for Ruffnut, she…”

“Ah, hello?” Snotlout interjected. “I’ve been dealing with her my whole life, so I know handle that.”

Without showing any hint of ire, Jack replied: “It’s funny, but I used to think the exact same thing.”

The man with prematurely salt-and-pepper hair eyed him.

“I’ve heard the stories from the days when you all were out on the Edge. They’ve got a lot of loose screws, but neither one of them is stupid.”

“Yeah, there is that.”

“Plus, you know what they got out of me for a wheel of cheese when I didn’t specify exactly what I would do,” Jack reminded his friend of a famed faux pas.

“That was brutal,” Snotlout agreed.

“So if they come begging for work, you can either try to make a deal or leave it for me when I get back. Tuffnut still thinks I’m might freeze them if I get too angry.”

“Can you still – I don’t know – feel it in you since you stopped going back?”

Despite the filthy turn Jack’s mind took with the statement, he slowly shook his head as he said: “Not a whisper. Even Toothless stopped bugging me about it.”

“Miss it?”

“Like I tell you every time you ask: not as much as you’d think,” he replied. “I’d probably miss it more if I didn’t have IceSpike. I love flying.”

As happened each time he mentioned it, a strange and otherworldly look glossed Jack’s face as he thought about his unique ability to fly. Few understood he got aided by what he thought of as wind spirits. Cold north winds responded to his call back on Earth, and they always seemed to be swirling somewhere close to him. In the nearly half-century he spent as a Guardian, the wind became a natural extension of his being. Rarely did Jack need to utter a command to call them forth.

“So do you feel, I guess, human now?” Snotlout continued on the well-worn topic.

Jack simply blinked at him.

“Right, you do. It’s weird, you know, thinking you’ve got some other form waiting for you. I never quite could get my mind around that.”

“Want to hear something even weirder?”

Snotlout eagerly nodded.

“Hallan bodies aren’t the same as Earthling bodies. They’re put together a little different. They’re mostly the same, but… over the last ten years I’ve really noticed the difference. You people are a lot stronger and sturdier than the people back on Earth,” Jack told him.

Jack watched as Snotlout digested the information. The broad chested and broad shouldered man could not appreciate the differences Jack knew. The yeti told him over a decade before x-rays and high-tech scans taken at the Polish secret prison revealed numerous difference between Earthling and Hallan physiology. It formed part of the evidence that Halla did not exist as a parallel Earth.

“That makes sense. You keep saying it’s rough over here… and Hiccup says it’s deadly over there. I’d really like to see some of those machines he talks about when I can get him to talk about it. Toothless still has the round hole scars on his wings,” the dragonless rider stated.

“Some souvenir, huh? Ask Hiccup sometime if he ever wants to go back,” Jack half-teased with the suggestion.

“I did. Once. It takes a lot to scare him, and that scares him. So, ah, maybe I shouldn’t be to eager to go there,” Snotlout gradually lowered his tone as he spoke.

Jack shrugged. They both dressed in sturdy dark shorts and thin muslin shirts since it got so warm in the workshop. Unlike they heavy leather aprons worn by the blacksmiths, the two carpenters wore a light canvas variety. Hiccup often admit his envy at the attire the woodworkers could wear. The burn scars dotting the Viking’s body attested to the need for the heavier clothing.

“Still can’t believe you managed to talk him into going on this trip.”

“Didn’t take a lot,” Jack admitted.

With that they began a spirited discussion on the various ways people managed to corral Hiccup in making particular decisions. It showed Jack did not harbor any worries about Snotlout running the shop during his absence. They each specialized in various skills. While he gained in carving competence, Snotlout never managed to master the style of Japanese joinery Jack did over the preceding dozen years. Planning and executing the joinery did not always go hand-in-hand, and one needed an oddly flexible form of rigid methodology in order to make the joints. The early afternoon slipped away in the shop as last-minute instructions got passed along.

Hiccup and Jack heard the call of the dock master regarding the approach of a ship. They ran out of their respective shops, called to their dragons, and flew to the harbor to await the arrival of Nilsborg and the Island Miss. The ship rode the afternoon breeze and deftly tacked around the shoals to make the docks. It still seemed impossible to both Hiccup and Jack that five men managed to crew the vessel. Three decks, two masts, and spar greater than the wingspan of IceSpike gracefully made the slip of the dock. Nilsborg and the deckhands worked with the longshoremen to secure it to the dock. Once tied down, the crew of the Island Miss scrambled through the rigging, calling out to one another, to hoist the sails and lash them in place. In less than a quarter of an hour, the Island Miss got fully docked.

“Hoy!” Nilsborg yelled as the gangplanks got lowered.

Everyone waved at the trader and his crew. Since the days when Johann got revealed as no friend to Berk, the people of the island became very leery of the other traders. It took a decade for Nilsborg and his crew to earn the favor and trust of the Berkians. Their estimation of the man increased when he agreed to ferry Hiccup and Jack to and from the southern hemisphere for a pleasure trip. All the Berkians knew, of course, Nilsborg got the protection of the dragons during the entire trip, but that seem only fair. As the commotion started to become ordered, Hiccup and Jack waited by their small pile of belongings.

“Seems t’be you boys are set t’go,” the man said as he walked up the last few feet toward them. His loose flax shirt billowed in the breeze while his boots thudded on the dock boards. The dull red rag tied around his head kept his hair in place and effectively absorbed the sweat on his forehead.

“Eh, we’re trying to travel as light as possible,” Hiccup said as if an afterthought.

Nilsborg grinned, scratched his salted beard, smiled, and said: “Not by the size of them crates.”

“Those aren’t for us, Nilsborg: we made those for the dragons so they’ve got some place to stay on deck instead of roosting on the spars,” Jack explained.

“Been thinking ‘bout that t’be honest. Glad t’see you thought ahead. What’s the idea?”

“We attach these to the main deck somewhere,” Hiccup stated.

The man walked past them and studied the dragon houses. He ran his fingers over the seemingly normal wood and seemed a bit perplexed when he tapped on the boards in places. However, Nilsborg nodded his head during the examination. In the background his crew and the Berk dock workers unloaded crates. It became obvious the man planned on a day of trading. Neither Hiccup nor Jack considered that when making their plans.

“Needs waterproofing,” he suggested.

“Not that wood,” Jack quickly enjoined him. “I soaked a strip of it in sea water for half a month and it barely collected any salt. Water couldn’t get into the fibers. Never warped or sagged. It’s skill hardened.”

“Skrill hardened?” Nilsborg inquired as his head jerked upward.

“Came from their island. Who knows how many times it’s been blasted, but it’s almost as dense as rock. Took two weeks to build those two dragon houses, and it ruined some of my best tools making ‘em,” the Berkian woodworker informed the trader.

The grizzled man pulled out his belt knife and dragged the edge along the surface of a board. Then he leaned in to take a look. He repeated the action with the blade; after which he attempted to carve off part of an edge and barely got a splinter for his effort. Nilsborg looked amazed when he glanced at Jack.

“It would take years to build a ship out of it,” Jack when he interpreted the expression, “unless you can invent some new, sharper, long-lasting bits, saws, and chisels.”

“Barely left a mark,” Nilsborg said and stared at his knife and drew his thumb along the edge of it.

“I’ll resharpen that for you before we leave,” Hiccup offered.

“Never saw wood like this. Might’n make for a good keel or rudder. Got any left over?”

“Just scraps, but you’re welcome to it. Snotlout said it’s impossible to make a decent carving with it unless he uses a hammer,” Jack replied.

“Maybe gunwale pins,” Nilsborg mumbled as he tapped on the wood again. Then he glanced at the steamer trunks. “Where’d you learn t’make hold crates?”

“A trunk is a trunk, Nilsborg.”

“Buckles and straps. Good idea. Might have t’steal that idea from you.”

Jack grinned at the compliment. The captain clapped him on the back. With that the man turned and began yelling instructions to his crew. The four people cocked their heads in his direction, and then each nodded. The transition from sailor to trader impressed Hiccup. The crew of the Island Miss worked in unison with barely a word between them. The Viking could not imagine he could ever get Fartbritches and Mouldy to respond in the same fashion. Once the orders got transmitted, Nilsborg turned back to the soon-to-be guests on his ship.

“Might’n seem a foolish question, but you both got sea legs?” The captain asked as though suddenly remembering.

“Nils, I’m Berkian. I learned to sail before I could walk,” Hiccup said feigned insult.

“Ever ride a dragon?” Jack asked with raised eyebrows. “An air pocket or down drafts means you suddenly drop fifteen, twenty… sometimes thirty feet in one go. You get used to it, so… I have air legs.”

Nilsborg smirked at them.

“Expecting rough seas?” Hiccup inquired.

“Heard tell ‘tis a stormy summer ‘round midworld. Waters’ll rise up all of sudden like, and it can make a stomach get jumpy. Quick squalls can make it worse. Not all people can handle ship life,” the man intoned.

“Seems a little late to be having this conversation,” the Viking droned.

“No, no… just a thought. I figured you’d be a hardy lot what with all that flying you’ve done, but wanted t’be certain. We’d give yous a bucket for keeps on the ship if’n it were otherwise.”

Jack smirked at the craftiness of the man. He also gave them a warning the sailing would not be entirely smooth during the trip. However, Jack saw the seas from on high and watched boats get tossed about. He believed winter could be far worse than summer with traveling the ocean. An unpleasant memory flickered through his mind. As long as they did not face icebergs on the open water, and he doubted they would considering where they planned to go, it seemed a logical risk. The hidden Guardian nodded his head.

“Now, ‘bout these here dragon cages…”

“Houses,” Hiccup and Jack corrected the sailor in unison.

“Houses,” Nilsborg accepted the correction. “What’re your thoughts on securing ‘em t’the deck.”

Hiccup vocally stepped back and let the real expert take over. Jack proceeded to explain his various ideas regarding that very subject. Nilsborg did not seem keen on allowing Jack to drill holes through the main deck. As they talked, the two turned and faced the ship. Between the men, Hiccup listened to them hatch a workable plan. It would involve shifting some of equipment bins around the deck, but it would provide space to securely lash the dragon houses to the deck cleats and gunwales. It would give the dragons access without creating much of an obstacle for the ship’s crew. Nilsborg assured them the crew would adapt in short order without complaint. Once the plans solidified, Nilsborg called over one of his sailors, as man who appeared the same age as Hiccup, but of a far different physical build.

“Hakon, needs you t’work with Jack here on getting their gear stowed and tying down these dragon houses. Let Darst know you’re not skiving off,” Nilsborg promptly delivered the orders. “Hiccup, you got a crate of wares like you said in the message you sent?”

“Yep. The rough looking one over there,” Hiccup rejoined and pointed to the box containing the lot of daggers, knives, and other implements he crafted from gronckle iron.

“Hakon, send Darst over here when you get through. We’ll have him take a look-see at what you’ve got t’trade.”

Hakon never said a word. He indicated Jack should follow with a jerk of his head. The broad shouldered, broad chested, impressively and thickly muscled man turned and headed back down the dock. Jack gave a nod and a wink to Hiccup. Hiccup grinned.

“Hakon’s a quite one, but I’ll wager my ship ‘gainst your dragon he can lift that dragon house on his own,” Nilsborg as he watched his crewman and passenger walk away.

“That’s a hell of bet,” Hiccup replied.

The dragon rider and the sailor regarded one another for a moment. They could not look any different than Jack from Fishlegs, yet each possessed an air of self-command. Hiccup learned long ago to respect the talents of Nilsborg, and the man did not exaggerate as Johann once did. A somber cast came over the trader’s visage.

“’Tween you and me, Hakon ain’t one t’be messed with. He’s mostly a gentle sort, but a himmelhound when angered up. Saw him rip an arm clean off a man once, then picked him up and threw him overboard like a child’s doll.”

Hiccup looked on in surprise, but managed to ask: “And you need dragons for protection?”

“Dragon’s’ll help us avoid the fight ‘fore it comes too close. Most sailors on both sides of midworld heard a tale or two ‘bout Berk and what them beasties can do. Seen it for ourselves when the water dragons decide to tangle with us…”

“Ah, I get it now,” the Viking interjected in a knowing manner.

“Knew you t’be a clever one, Hiccup. Pirates and marauders we can handle and even outrun, but a sliquifier or scauldron is something entirely different. Can’t tell you how many times we had t’put up in a harbor for repairs after coming across one water dragon or t’other. The Island Miss is right tough ship, but… well, them dragons of yours will keep us on tack and out of dry dock,” Nilsborg finished.

Any levity regarding the topic got put aside. Water dragons would be perilous for any seagoing vessel and likely more dangerous than foul-tempered humans. They could and often did attack with little to no warning. A night fury and woolly howl, strike class dragons, would help mitigate the waterborne dangers. The arrangement Nilsborg made with Jack made complete sense. It would afford the Berkians a honeymoon and the trader ship safer passage across the waters. Hiccup hoped their duties as protectors of the ship would not override their original purpose for accepting the deal. Although he never told Jack, the Viking very much look forward to simply lounging on the ship deck with the Guardian wrapped in his arms.


	4. Chapter 4

The next afternoon the Island Miss chased the sun heading toward the eastern horizon. Hiccup and Jack stood on the wheelhouse deck and watched Berk fade into the west. Long after it dipped below the edge of the water line, they continued to stand at the rail holding hands. Each in their own fashion pondered the wonders they would see over the next eight weeks. When the shadows grew longer, the dinner bell rang. Morleo, the pilot, tied the tiller into position and aimed for the hatch leading below deck. Hiccup and Jack followed him.

Although it seemed odd at first, the crew quarters and mess hall resided on the middle deck below topside. The deck above got used to store goods the crew could rapidly deliver topside, and the deck below held the heavier items that served as ballast. It also housed three terrible terrors to eliminate any vermin hidden in the cargo, and the trio acted as waste disposal for uneaten food. The ship sailed smoothly on an east-by-southeast course as the now seven members of the crew assembled for the evening repast. Above them the dragons rested atop their housing basking in the last light of the day.

“Now tradition holds new crew take on the worst duties shipboard,” Nilsborg said as he took his seat at the head of the table. Opposite him at the other end Darst occupied the first mate’s chair.

Hiccup and Jack sat on a bench seat with Kenna. It surprised them to discover the crewman turned out to be a crewwoman. Moreover, she sat at Darst’s right elbow, and sign she held a position in the man’s life. Throughout the first hours of the trip, the Berkians picked up on the subtle cues that Morleo and Hakon also formed a couple. Any worries the two passengers entertained about how the crew would react to their relationship evaporated in an instant. It spoke volumes about Nilsborg as well.

“If we want t’keep tradition, I need one of my crew t’go up and tell them dragons what they’ll be doing for next eight-day,” the captain said and glanced around at his crew.

Darst started snickering. Then Morleo burst out laughing. Soon all of the crew of the Island Miss sat laughing. Hiccup and Jack glanced around and smiled.

“We knows ye ain’t here to man the ship,” Darst said in his somewhat gravelly voice.

Darst, a man only very marginally younger than the captain, carried himself in a burly frame common to most sea-going sailors. Even Kenna seemed burly. All of them, however, did not possess anything like the hewn rock formation of Hakon. Hakon and Morleo filled the bench on the other side of the table from the passengers.

“And anything further yous sees fit t’throw in for us we’ll give back in fair trade,” Nilsborg rejoined. “Might be it gets a bit boring deckside after a week or so. You’re both skilled craftsman, and maybe we can work out a deal ‘bout showing my crew some of your tricks.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Hiccup said after a barely a moment’s thought.

Jack nodded in agreement. The two dragon riders looked at one another. An idea they discussed earlier silently reasserted itself between them. The hidden Guardian took the lead.

“I, um… well, I’m thinking maybe the crew might want to go through the trust ritual with the dragons,” Jack added.

“Yeah, I was thinking that myself,” his husband replied.

“Trust ritual?” Kenna inquired, and her voice sounded melodic.

“It’s a way to prove to the dragons you’re not a threat… and they’re not a threat to you. It also means they’ll keep a closer eye on you if things get, um, interesting,” Hiccup explained.

“How much blood is shed?” Morleo asked.

Hiccup and Jack learned Morleo, often referred to as just Mor, came from one of the southern islands and spoke so many languages Nilsborg said he lost count after a while. Morleo acted as the trade first mate to Nilsborg since he could converse with just about anyone. His bronze skin coupled with fizzy hair on both his head and face, sun-bleached to an ocher color, quietly announced he did not come from the northern latitudes.

“Blood? What? No, no,” Jack burped out in surprise. “No, this is just a method of showing the dragons you’re not afraid to be vulnerable around them. You just hold out your hand and close your eyes, and the dragon does the rest.”

Jack acted out the ritual.

“If the dragon thinks you’re being sincere, it will touch it’s nose to your hand and close it’s eyes. It’s a symbol of trust,” Hiccup added.

“And if it holds you’re not sincere does it bite your hand off?” Darst queried.

“What? No!” Jack again blurted.

The crew looked skeptical as the glanced at the skinny Viking.

“My leg,” Hiccup said and returned their gaze.

He spent ten minutes telling an abbreviated version of how he lost his leg during the fight against the Red Death. All the while the crew dined on boiled, salted mutton cooked with dried vegetables and served over a hardtack bread. A light ale accompanied the meal. No one asked questions about the story. When Hiccup finished, the crew nodded their heads as though they found nothing to dispute.

“Saw a dragon shred a man once,” Morleo stated. “Pulled him straight out’a the top nest. Pieces of him started droppin’ out’a the sky. Blood everywhere. So I hopes you’re not takin’ no offense ‘til I sees this trust ritual play out.”

“Fair enough,” Hiccup said. “It took my people a while to get used to the idea. We fought dragons for so long we didn’t think there was another way.”

“Until Hiccup shot a night fury out of the sky and… he became Toothless because Hiccup showed mercy and compassion. Changed everything about Berk,” Jack repeated what he often heard others on the island say.

“And now they sail with us… least ways two of ‘em do,” Nilsborg entered the conversation. “Look, mates, we’ve been t’Berk ‘nough times t’know this is how it is. I ain’t saying we go ‘round befriending every water dragon…”

“Why not?” Jack interjected.

Six heads turned to gape at him.

“Seriously: why not?” He questioned again.

Blank looks met his question.

“Jack?” Hiccup prodded his husband.

“Look, maybe the best thing we do on the voyage is teach you how to make friends with, well, at least some of the dragons you come across,” the former Hallan Spirit of Winter Joy said in a firm voice. “And I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, either. How long have sailors and dragons been fighting each other?”

A murmur swept around the table.

“But it has to start somewhere. Look at Hiccup. Look at what started with him and what it did for Berk.”

“But that’s an island, lad,” Darst grumbled. “This is a ship. How is a dragon ‘sposed to tell one from another? Hmm? Seems like a tall order.”

“Good point,” Hiccup mumbled, and Jack could see it set the wheels in his head in motion.

The group ate in silence for a short while. Jack also bent his mind to issue. He thought over all he knew about tidal class dragons, and discovered he knew very little outside of what the dragon manual explained. Valka alone knew the most about dragons, and perhaps more than Fishlegs when it came to water variety. The deficit of knowledge worked against his notion.

“There’s an answer, I can feel it,” Jack muttered after a while.

“You figure that one out, Jack, and I’ll take you wherever you want t’go for a whole year,” Nilsborg rejoined.

“Ooh, shouldn’t have done that, Nils,” Hiccup said through a grin. “I’ve lost each time I made a wager like that. Jack’ll make you take him to the bottom of the world.”

“Can anyone even get there?” Morleo asked in general.

The topic shifted to one the sailors better understood: sailing to hitherto unknown destinations. Jack, however, did not take part. Hiccup eyed his mate and knew the secret immortal bent his mind to the problem. Given the world from which he hailed, it seemed a certain bet to the Viking the Earthling would solve the puzzle. When Jack caught Hiccup watching him, a sly grin rippled across his mouth.

The next morning after checking the ship and its course, the entire crew to assembled in front of the dragon houses at the request of Hiccup and Jack. The passengers wore some of their new summer clothing, and it appeared at odds with the crew who dressed like a sailing crew. Toothless and IceSpike lay on top of the specially created pens soaking up the morning sun. The dragons observed as the group of humans approached. When the assembled paused, the creatures appeared a little bewildered.

“Watch,” Hiccup instructed the others.

Instead of going to Toothless, Hiccup went to the woolly howl. IceSpike cocked her head in confusion. The Viking stopped within reach, held out his arm with his hand facing out and fingers upward, and then bowed his head and closed his eyes. Three seconds later he felt the warm snout of the dragon press into his palm. IceSpike let out with one long exhale. Hiccup opened his eyes and caressed the face of his husband’s dragon.

“That’s all well and good, but this one knows you… and you two are together,” Darst logically complained as he eyed Hiccup and Jack.

“Nilsborg, would you be so kind as to offer yourself up as an example using Toothless?” Jack exhorted the captain of the ship.

It surprised Hiccup and Jack when Nilsborg hesitated. However, the steady stare of the recently wed couple prompted the man to action. In a good imitation of Hiccup’s performance, the captain approached the ebony dragon. He lifted his arm and then his hand. After a final glance at the winged creature, Nilsborg closed his eyes. Ten seconds later Toothless extended his neck and touched his nose to palm of the captain. As happened almost every time, Nilsborg’s eyes popped open. He stared in wonder at Toothless.

“He’s so soft,” the man whispered, “and warm.”

Nilsborg’s fingers gently curled around the curve of Toothless’ snout. Toothless warbled, seeming to sense an important moment took place. Hiccup could not stop the silly smile that spread over his mouth. It deeply touched him each time he got to witness a person making his or her first real connection with a dragon. Toothless pressed more firmly into the man’s hand.

“Slide your hand down and scratch along his jaw line. He loves that,” Hiccup advised.

The captain did as instructed. Moments later Toothless began to coo as he gave into the pleasure the scratching fingers drew from him. Nilsborg chuckled like a child with a new toy.

“Amazing,” he barely spoke the word.

“Exactly,” Hiccup and Jack said in unison.

After that display, getting the rest of the crew to perform the trust ritual grew much easier. Both Toothless and IceSpike responded positively to all the people. When each human took a turn with each dragon, they stood around the creatures and chatted. Jack hugged IceSpike’s neck and warned the others about rubbing the wrong against the scales on her head and other parts of her body. He showed them the fine lattice of laceration scars on his hands and arms he received over the years from the extremely sharp little plates. Toothless gave a demonstration of his retractable teeth, and Hiccup used it to explain why he named the dragon as he did.

“Alright, I’ll admit it: I underestimated the beasties,” Darst commented. “Never got a chance to get this close to one. But these ain’t water dragons, so… not sure this is the same.”

“It isn’t,” Hiccup flatly stated. “Wild dragons are unpredictable and can be really dangerous. If you’ve been fighting with them the whole time you’ve been at sea, it’s going to be rough gaining the trust of any of them, but it’ll be worth it if we can find a way to do it.”

Jack noted how his man included everyone in the search for an answer. The Guardian in Jack heard the Defender in Hiccup accepting the challenge. Their honeymoon took on a new dimension, and one Jack rather liked. It meant they got to work on an issue, a problem, together using the collective might of their brains. Something powerful stirred in Jack.

“You’ve got the best dragon trainer on the planet standing on your deck. If anyone can find a solution to this, you’re looking at him,” Jack complimented his mate and enjoyed the way Hiccup’s cheeks turned a little red.

“And he doesn’t think like anyone else I’ve ever met,” Hiccup returned the compliment. “Jack’s had experiences most of us can’t really appreciate.”

“Like being found on an island or pulled up from the sea?” Kenna inquired in a knowing fashion.

“Heard about those, huh?” Jack rhetorically asked.

“Lad, talk jumps from ship t’ship faster than an eel through water,” Nilsborg intoned. “We live t’hear strange stories coming from the ocean. Yous didn’t think we’d miss out on that one?”

“I suppose not, but it was so long ago,” the hidden Guardian mumbled.

“Oh, a good legend never dies. It’ll drift round the world ‘til no one’s sure where it came from,” Morleo told him. “I’ve heard at least six different versions. My favorite is how they dredged you up in a block of ice.”

“That’s just stupid,” Jack barked while Hiccup laughed.

“We’ve seen stranger things,” Hakon lent a thought for the first time that morning.

“Aye. Mjollnir’s Fire and Frigga’s Blood Tears,” Morleo said and gave two examples.

“Yeah, those are pretty strange,” Hiccup rejoined in a thoughtful manner.

Jack held his tongue. He saw the phenomena on both Earth and Halla, and knew each respectively as St. Elmo’s Fire and upper-atmospheric lighting. The man from another world could explain both in scientific terms, but then he would need to explain how he knew that. Thus, the slender brown-haired man remained silent.

“Now Jack is strange, but he isn’t that odd,” Hiccup continued in a more jovial tone.

Kenna and Nilsborg both snickered. Hakon grinned. Darst and Morleo looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Hiccup mentally patted himself on the back for diffusing that particular topic. The facts of Jack’s arrival on Berk did not entirely create a coherent picture when too closely examined. The group did not stay assembled since work needed to be done and a ship needed to be sailed.

Shortly afterward Hiccup and Jack lounged on the deck, using their dragons as makeshift couches, and neither beast seemed to mind so long as they got to sunbathe. The two men held hands and stared at the blue sky. One thought did occur to the Earthling.

“You know we’re going to get roasted to a crisp if we try to lay in the sun like IceSpike and Toothless?” Jack lazily queried.

“Probably,” Hiccup replied without moving, “but it does feel nice right now.”

“’Til we get blisters.”

“Do you have to be so damn practical?” The Viking asked.

“Do you want to listen to me whine about sunburn? Remember the last time it happened?” Jack countered.

Little more than two years before, when Jack returned form his last trip back to Earth, the two went off to be alone on a beach. They both got mercilessly burned for failing to take into account their pallid skin, the reflective sand, and their complete lack of clothing for an entire day. Jack, who could not remember when he last experienced sunburn, did whine incessantly about the pain during the four days it took to get over the worst of it.

“Come on,” Hiccup said while pushing himself from his comfortable position. He held out a hand when got to his feet.

Jack accepted it. They then used two coils of rope to fashion some makeshift chairs in shadow of the mainsail. Dragons watched humans and remained content to bake themselves into stupidity. Their riders rested in the shade while the breeze from the ocean cooled them. They each thought it felt nice.

“So what have you figured out about the water dragons?” Hiccup questioned his mate.

“Seems pretty likely some of them use sonar. They probably track ships by the sound of the bow cutting a wake,” Jack mused as he stared at nothing in the sky. “If we could craft some sort of hydro-sonic whistle or noisemaker, it would make the Island Miss stand out. Then we could start isolating and befriending some of the water dragons.”

“I got the last part, but…” Hiccup muttered.

“Ever hear the whales and scauldrons make that droning, whooping sound… or that weird clicking?”

Hiccup nodded.

“That’s sonar. They use sound under water to communicate and find things.”

The Viking raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not going to believe me, but sound travels further under water than in the air… a lot farther,” Jack informed him.

“Not that hard to believe,” Hiccup dryly retorted. “Astrid, Tuffnut, Snotlout, and me used to play duck and swim on the north beach when we were little. I could hear them splashing around under the water.”

“Okay, now imagine if you had ears specifically evolved to listen in the seas.”

“Like water dragons?”

“Yeah. They can probably hear a ship from miles away as it hits the water,” Jack said and skipped forward through the explanation he planned. “If we could fit something to the keel that made a particular sound, the dragons would start to know this ship.”

“And attack it,” Hiccup drolly stated.

Jack kicked at his husband’s leg in mild annoyance. Hiccup snickered. They looked at each other for half a minute.

“So… we’re not really going to relax on this trip, are we?” Hiccup slowly asked.

“Why do you say that?” Jack counter-questioned.

“’Cause we’re already working on a problem. Besides, I don’t know if I can just lay around and do nothing. I’ve never done that before. I don’t even know how to do that. One day is easy enough, but… eight weeks?”

Jack raised his eyebrows. Somehow the idea of simply lounging about a ship deck seemed pleasing, but the notion of doing that day after day for weeks on end felt tedious. Theory and practice again proved different. The Earthling nodded once.

“Got a question for you, Hiccup,” he said.

“And?” Hiccup took the bait.

“How would you make an underwater whistle?”

Within half an hour they lay on the deck with Hiccup’s sketch book between then as they jotted down ideas and tinkered with concepts. An hour after that, Jack asked Nilsborg if he might be in possession of some scraps of metal. When Nilsborg asked why, Jack told him he and Hiccup planned on constructing a sonic dragon lure. The ship captain gave him a blank stare. Jack promised he would explain more at the evening meal. In the end Nilsborg gave up just enough scrap metal and told Jack they could find a small anvil on the bottom deck. Ten minutes after that the two passengers sequestered themselves in the lowest deck and went to work. Blackrock smoke began to pour out of the forecastle chimney stack.

Between working on the problem of attracting dragons when one wanted them and not the other way around and taking the dragons out for several flights a day, time quickly passed. On the fourth day since leaving Berk, Nilsborg announced the would arrive at Bandoon the following day on the evening tide. The crew subtly shifted gears as they both sailed the ship and prepared for a day of trading. That evening evening at dinner, both Hiccup and Jack caught Nilsborg and Darst giving them strange glances.

“Alright, what is it?” Hiccup finally demanded when Darst’s eyes skittered away from his for the umpteenth time.

“Out with it already,” Jack supported his mate.

“Well, um… didn’t quite think about this at the start, but, your dragons… might cause a bit of a… ah…” Nilsborg stammered and glanced away from Hiccup.

“Folk there ain’t used to seeing tame dragons or tame riders,” Darst harrumphed. “Cause a stir is what it’ll do. Could get, well, dicey.”

Hiccup and Jack looked at one another, and then around the table at the crew. Hakon, Morleo, and Kenna nodded their heads in agreement with their captain and his shipboard first mate. The seriousness of their visages added further weight to the topic.

“You think they might attack Toothless and IceSpike?” The Viking dragon rider quietly inquired.

“Or you. Won’t matter much to them if they takes a-fright,” Morleo commented, and his deeply tanned bronze skin crinkled on his forehead.

“Could set the ship aflame,” Kenna added while staring at, for all intents and purposes, her husband. She boasted tanned skinned, but her natural skin appeared much darker than Morleo’s. It lent a severity to her dark eyes that did not blink.

“So what you’re not saying out loud is that Hiccup and me and our dragons should make ourselves scarce before we draw up in the harbor?” Jack surmised.

The faces staring at them seemed to sag in relief that at least one of them understood the situation.

“Where’s the best place to go?” Hiccup queried in a clearly agitated tone.

“Southeast side of the island isn’t populated that much and there’re half-mountains there for yous t’hide on. There’s falls what come out of some of the cliffs, so you can find a nice place t’have a layabout for the day,” Nilsborg suggested, but it seemed more than a suggestion.

Hiccup stared at his plate. He suddenly lost his appetite and the fried mutton and squash did not seem as appealing as it did when they sat down. Jack simply and openly frowned in annoyance.

“Lads, I’m sorry I didn’t think of it earlier… when Jack brought me the idea. I am, truly, but…

“Is this going to happen at every island? ‘Cause if it is, you can turn the ship around and take us back to Berk right now. This isn’t what I pocking signed up for,” Hiccup flatly stated and held Nilsborg’s eyes.

“Not, um… below midworld,” the captain told him.

“How many stops before that?”

“At least two more,” Darst intoned. “Nolot Atrand and Sheysaille.”

“Wait a second!” Jack blurted. “Dragon hunters operate out of Nolot Atrand!”

“Some, yeah” Kenna admitted and stared down at her plate.

“No thanks. Un-uh, not going there,” Hiccup jumped in without pause. “Thanks, but no thanks. Maybe we didn’t think this through, but I’m not putting our dragons in danger. Turn the ship around and take us back,” Hiccup said as he stood. “Sorry, but this is a bad deal.”

Without waiting for further discussion, Hiccup abandoned his meal and headed out of the galley area. Everyone heard his feet thump up the stairs heading toward the top deck. Jack slowly rose from his seat and set down his utensils. He also lost his appetite at the news. The Earthling looked around at the crew.

“We knew we’d be heading into some dangerous areas. No one needed to tell us that, but Nolot Atrand is a main base for dragon hunters. There’s nowhere there we can hide. They’ll capture or kill our dragons before we even get close. Just… just take us back to Berk,” Jack said in a more thoughtful manner.

“Jack,” Nilsborg implored him as the passenger swung his leg over the seat of the fixed bench.

“Nils, would you knowingly sail your ship into Tyvstein?”

The grumbles of protest he heard from Darst and Morleo answered the question.

“That’s what you asking Hiccup and me to do,” the less senior dragon rider spoke without any apparent rancor.

Jack also left the table and followed in the wake of Hiccup. Above the hold decks he found Hiccup tending to Toothless. He walked over and reached out a hand as IceSpike extended her head. He scratched the spot on the side of her face that made the woolly howl melt. She rumbled with happiness.

“I compared it to Tyvstein,” Jack said as he applied more pressure to his fingers.

“And?” Hiccup asked without turning to face him.

“It shocked ‘em, and I think they understand our position. We’ll probably start heading back once they discuss what they needed to do.”

A decent breeze propelled the ship in a southeasterly direction. Fluffy clouds of the non-threatening variety floated lazily in the late afternoon sun. The sky looked a deep azure against the gray of the water along the horizon. Jack gazed around and a thought struck him.

“How come we haven’t seen one dragon since we left Berk?” He asked.

“I’m willing to bet this is a popular sailing lane, and the dragons probably been hunted out of the area,” the Viking said and at last faced his mate. Jack saw anger line his features. “Jack, they had to know their route and what’s on some of these islands. It’s like they tricked us. I just don’t get why?”

Heavy footfalls approached them. They angled their heads and saw Hakon draw close. The shy man built like a sentinel dragon watched them with his blue-green eyes. The stubble of russet hair on his closely cropped scalp twinkled like rubies in the diminishing light. Hakon wore an apologetic expression.

“Didn’t do it on purpose,” the man who seemed the same age as them said in a half-whisper. “We’re riding above a storm line. Safest to head that way.”

“If you’re not a dragon,” Hiccup countered.

“Not really safe for anyone, but we can bribe our way through.”

“With the lives of our dragons?”

Hakon looked wounded by the tone of Hiccup’s voice. He winced and almost stepped back. Jack detected a hesitation in Hakon’s demeanor at odds with someone of his imposing physical stature. The man could tear Hiccup in half before Toothless could fire one defensive shot.

“Hakon, what are you really trying to tell us?” Jack interposed himself in the exchange before Hiccup got really heated. Any threat to dragons, and in especial Toothless, made the Viking volatile.

“We’re sailing in the wrong direction. We should be going west… following the summer trade winds. Squalls and storms run this way ‘til the warm currents cool. Why d’you think we headed for Stadtveldt at the first?” The quiet man said and looked at his hands while he spoke.

“You’re saying Nilsborg changed your usual route for us?” Hiccup inquired in a less hostile manner.

Hakon nodded his blocky head on his thick neck.

“Why… if he knew it’d be dangerous?” Jack presented the logical follow-up question.

“We argued within all the way to Stadtveldt when he told us the deal he made with you,” the youngest of the crew said and cast his gaze out onto the wide ocean. “Before we unloaded at Stadtveldt, he made us stand on the deck and look at the island. He asked us when the last time was we needed to worry ‘bout sailing in those waters.”

Hiccup and Jack glanced at each other. They each privately came to same conclusion, but waited for the crewman to speak. The Berkians continued to stroke their dragons.

“You know why. Them. The dragons,” Hakon softly spoke while tilting his head toward Toothless and IceSpike. “Everyone knows you made a deal with Stadtveldt and half the islands west of Berk to protect ‘em. Nilsborg said we’re getting rich and fat ‘cause of the dragons… your dragons. The dragons of Berk. He said we owe you ‘cause we got a deal from you without giving anything in trade. He’s trying to make right by you with this trip.”

“But he said we’d be paying him back by acting as protection from…” and Hiccup stopped mid-sentence as the sly truth struck him in the head.

“We’re so dumb sometimes,” Jack lamented and shook his head. “Nilsborg knew there wasn’t any dragon threat in these waters.”

“Only ever saw one dragon in this channel,” Hakon confirmed and shrugged a little. “And that was four… five years back. We get lots of pilot fish in the spring when we’re sailing west, but no dragons.”

“But taking us anywhere near Nolot Atrand? That’s suicide for us,” Hiccup said and returned to the main issue.

“Don’t think he’d actually go there,” Hakon muttered and scratched his head. “Cost us everything, it would, just to get out alive.”

“Then why head east?” Jack asked and ran interference again.

“’Cause Quezchtal is east… least east of Berk if you look at it right. Maybe the captain is thinking of taking us through the Chianvetti Run.”

Jack stared at the powerfully built and incredibly shy man. He talked at though he understood all the routes. The Earthling’s native and assertive curiosity got the better of him.

“Hakon, are you a navigator?” Jack asked.

“Sometimes. I know the stars on both sides of midworld all the way around. Been running the trade routes on this ship for the last fifteen years,” Hakon said as though relayed common knowledge.

Jack threw a look at Hiccup. Hiccup frowned a bit. He parsed through the past as he knew it, focusing on when he first remembered Nilsborg coming to Berk to trade. The Viking could not remember the trader any time before Johann, and it indicated Johann kept certain traders from Berk. It the traitor went out of his way to keep Nilsborg from the shores of Berk, it said quite a bit for Nilsborg. However, one question popped into Hiccup’s head of a very personal nature. Despite that, he decided to chance it.

“Hakon, when did Morleo became a member of the crew?”

The man’s cheeks turned a subtle shade of pink noticeable even in the glimmers of twilight. A small smile lit on Hakon’s face, the first either Berkian recalled seeing. Hakon gazed out at the sea and replied: “Eight years back. We stopped at the Aikane islands. Nilsborg found out he knew a lot of languages from all over. Spent a week talking him into joining the crew.”

“And you and him?” Jack delicately inquired.

“Five… maybe six months after he came aboard. Used to stand on the prow and he’d sing these songs in Aikane… sad songs. I could tell they were sad. I asked him why, and Mor said it was about someone he missed who died a couple of years before. Said I reminded him of that person. Just sort of worked from there,” Hakon quietly relayed.

“He stayed ‘cause of you?” The Earthling pressed.

“Maybe. Never asked.”

“Hakon, I stayed on Berk because of Hiccup.”

The man glanced back and forth between the Berkian couple and asked: “Heard say they let you and him join together. True?”

“Yeah, it’s true,” Hiccup confirmed. “About two months ago. Everyone on Berk celebrated with us. One of the best days of my life.”

“Mine, too,” Jack chimed in.

“Even though you’re an outsider?” Hakon asked Jack.

“He’s hasn’t been an outsider for years and years, Hakon,” Hiccup answered first. “He’s a much a part of Berk as I am. Nobody really remembers a time when he wasn’t with us.”

Jack’s face split into a happy, dopey smile.

“Mor says the sea can give people special gifts. Heard say they pulled him up from the sea and wasn’t dead. You took care of him?”

Hiccup nodded, and Jack saw a flash of the troubling memory on his husband’s face regarding that time.

“You’re the reason I wouldn’t listen to… him, so… never forget that,” Jack remind the one he loved.

“I never do,” Hiccup rejoined, and then focused on Hakon. “If you love Morleo, and I mean really love him, then join with him the first chance you get. Don’t let anyone tell you can’t. No matter what else happens, never, ever forget what brought you together.”

“It can save your life,” the Earthling softly intoned.

Hakon slowly bobbed his head up and down as his eyes flicked back and forth between the two Berkians. For brief second Hiccup thought he saw envy on the otherwise eternally broad, passive face. He made a plan to talk to Nilsborg before the reached the shores of Berk regarding Hakon and Morleo. The two trading sailors deserved to be united together from what he could see, and Berk could offer them the opportunity.

“Hakon, do you understand why we can’t go anywhere near Nolot Atrand?” Jack used the moment to drive home the real point of the conversation.

The night advanced on twilight and deep darkness that would cover the ocean, disturbed only by the bright points of light in the sky, made it increasingly difficult for Hiccup and Jack to read Hakon’s face. The man rarely displayed any overt emotions, so the task became near impossible. Despite that handicap, they remained vigilant.

“We won’t take you anywhere you or dragons can get hurt,” Hakon hesitantly stated. “I’ll make sure Nilsborg knows that.”

The two men from Berk realized what Hakon said bordered on mutiny, and each immediately felt indebted the man would go that far on their behalf. It solidified Hiccup’s notion to offer Hakon and Morleo a chance to wed. At least one place on Halla would recognize, understand, and value what the two men meant to each other. However, the current situation needed to take center stage.

“Hakon, is this place you’re going to really that bad?” Hiccup asked after silently accepting the man’s promise.

“Don’t think they’ve known a lot of peace there. The dragon hunters are as bad as the marauders and pirates. Some of ‘em are worse ‘cause they set houses on fire,” Hakon responded in a quiet, tense voice. “We’ll sail in under the trader flag they gave us, so they’ll know where not there to make trouble. Most of the dock hands know the Island Miss on sight, but if they see dragons aboard, they might take it funny.”

“Not the laughing funny, I take it,” Jack rhetorically stated.

Hakon shook his head from side to side. Hiccup and Jack eyed one another for a moment. Somehow the quiet demeanor of the man grew more somber when he did not speak. It impressed on the Berkians the seriousness of the situation. The Viking frowned.

“Hiccup?” His husband inquired.

“We should go back to Berk… starting tonight. I don’t see anything good coming out of this,” Hiccup intoned. “Jack, we didn’t bargain for this.”

“I know. Alarms keep going off in my head. I don’t believe Nils tricked us: I believe him when he says he didn’t think of it right away,” Jack mostly agreed.

“I will tell the captain you really do want to go back,” Hakon volunteered.

“Did he send you out here to change my mind?” Hiccup grumbled the question.

“No,” Nilsborg’s voice came out of the shadow of the mainmast. He stepped closer to the trio. “I didn’t me t’spy on yous three, but I heard a lot of what you said.”

Three men turned to face him.

“We’ll belay our arrival at Bandoon ‘til the morning tide, and then put in for supplies. There’s a small shoal on the way where we can drop you. You’ll be safe ‘nough there since only small skiffs can make it in… barely. Won’t take us but half a day t’get provisions and head back t’you. Then we’ll sail west,” Nilsborg quickly outlined a new plan.

“Thanks,” Hiccup said with considerable relief.

“I’m honest sorry ‘bout this, lads. Wasn’t ‘til this morning that it hit me where’d we be setting berth. And you’re right: you didn’t bargain for ports like this,” the captain said as he voice dropped in pitch. “Right shame, though, you not getting to see the southern islands. The folks there’d be right excited t’see your dragons.”

“Yeah, it is, but we can’t risk going through dragon hunter waters,” Jack opined.

“Aye, and aye again,” Nilsborg chimed. “Well, that’ll be all we needs t’know then. This time tomorrow you’ll be half a day closer to home.”

“We appreciate you being so understanding, Nilsborg. I know it puts you out…”

“Don’t think on it, Hiccup,” the man interjected, and then clapped him on a shoulder with a meaty hand. “We’ll pick up our western trade route and won’t be much the worse off for it. And least ways you two’ll have more ‘an eight-day at sea.”

Nilsborg accommodating attitude removed any sting from the sudden change in plans. In the back of his mind Hiccup planned on leaving some of the better pieces of dragon-steel items. He hoped it would help defray the expense of a wasted week on the waters. Jack’s mind strayed in the same direction. He would put aside the dragon lure project and focus on repairing anything he could find. Moreover, the Earthling would show the entire crew some of his tricks in woodworking before they made the Berk port. As disappointed as he felt their honeymoon got cut short, it seemed a better alternative than risking dragon hunters on a ship that could not match their firepower. Thus, in the dark of the new night, the group settled on a new itinerary.


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Hiccup and Jack roused the next morning with sunrise, the crew already worked their ship with consummate ease tacking across the early winds. It appeared Nilsborg informed the others of the change of plans, and none made any derisive remarks or treated them any different. They barely got time to eat when the two passengers felt the ship slow and jerk to a halt. When they got to the deck, even their dragons appeared confused.

“There. Small island there,” Darst said and pointed off the starboard side of the ship. “This is close as we can get else we’ll be punching holes in the belly of the Island Miss.”

“So, no other ships can get in close?” Jack asked even though Nilsborg already told them as much.

“Oh, you’ll be flying over the bones of them that tried. You’ll see,” the shipboard first mate said in a dire voice.

“Some call it Traitor’s Cabin,” Morleo said from behind and made all three start. “Word has it mutineers and traitors get dumped there to try their luck with passing ships. Never heard of anyone getting rescued ‘cause every sailor knows why they’d be there. ‘Les they can fashion a boat, they can’t swim away what for the smaller dragons and sharks in the waters ‘round here. Without a riding dragon, anyone dropped on that spit of stone is doomed.”

Darst nodded his head in agreement and added: “We need to make with the tide, so best get yourselves ready. Hakon packed you some food and water to see you through the day.”

A quarter of an hour later two dragons winged away from a ship that hauled anchor and resumed an eastward trek. As Hiccup and Jack, and Toothless and IceSpike as well, drew closer to the island, they started to see evidence of Darst’s assertion no ship could make it to the island. They saw the bleached and rotting hulls of small craft that got hung up on rocks just under the surface of the choppy water. Since they flew at high morning tide, it meant the island got surrounded by a formidable barrier at low tide. When the two dragon riders landed on the island they saw more than a few bones and other detritus from marooned people. Anyone left there got left to die.

“Not really a relaxing place,” Jack commented when they landed in an area with fewer remains.

Hiccup shrugged out of his light summer flying armor and set it next to the pack Hakon provided them. Jack did the same. Already the morning hinted at a warm day. Once Toothless and IceSpike got freed of their harnesses and saddles, the two also stripped out of their leather pants so they only wore the thin muslin undergarments. Jack caught Hiccup looking at him in a lascivious manner. The Spirit of Fun sprang to life under his skin, so Jack divested himself of even that last covering. Hiccup turned it into a race. They might be temporarily residing on an island used as the last resting place of many people, but it did not mean they could not have fun. The dragons stretched out in the rocks to catch the morning sun while the humans crept down to find a place to swim and simply be together.

Despite the macabre nature of the island, the Berkians made the most of it and rather enjoyed themselves in a newlywed fashion. After a couple of hours splashing around in the water, they picked through the items littering the islands. Between the two they found almost four dozen gold and silver coins. Most bore a deep gouge through the eyes of the pieces bearing faces. Jack hypothesized it formed some sort of ritual to give the condemned money they could not spend and marked the pieces as such. In the end, they dumped the coins into the ocean. After which the put on their muslin garments to protect their slightly pink skin from further burning. Then they availed themselves of the victuals and water Hakon provided. The hot morning drove the two to find shelter under one of IceSpike’s wings. It did not take long before they curled up next to one another for a nap.

Toothless’ sharp bugle woke them in a snap. The two humans scramble out from under the woolly howl’s wing to see what alarmed the dragon. Hiccup raced to his best winged friend’s side.

“What is it, buddy?” He calmly asked as he started sooth the creature.

“We slept a lot longer than we think we did,” Jack said after he yawned. “The sun’s already past zenith.”

Hiccup shaded his eyes as he glanced upward, then around, and said: “Plus, Nilsborg is back.”

Jack followed the direction of his husband’s outstretched hand. In the distance they could see a ship bobbing on the waves on the far side of the shoal rocks. The gray stones seemed to rise out of the water like grasping fingers. Tendrils of green hung from many and made the configuration even eerier. The vessel seemed to be anchored, and both recognized the shape of the craft. They started to collect their belongings. Ten minutes later they mounted the re-saddled dragons and took to the air.

Nilsborg and Darst waited for them near the dragon houses. Toothless and IceSpike used the study gunwale as a perch while their riders dismounted. They then hopped to their shipboard housing. Hiccup and Jack expertly divested their dragons of tack while the sailors watched. Lastly, the two riders stripped out of their leather jackets.

“Easy t’see you’ve made a lifetime of that,” Nilsborg said and indicated the manner in which the riders tended to the dragons first. “Now, we – the crew that is – got t’talking on Bandoon. You weren’t the only ones set on seeing the southern shores. Most everything we got in the holds is meant for them down there. Doesn’t sell well here in the north.”

“And you’re asking if we’d still like to go to Quezchtal? But the route…” Hiccup began to fill in the blanks.

“Now, then, Mister Rider of Dragons, what does you know ‘bout the rest of the world south of where you makes home?” The captain interjected.

“I’ve seen maps.”

“We’ve got a couple back in the Longhouse,” Jack inserted.

“And you’ve sailed these parts when?”

The Berkians glanced at one another.

“Lads, listen here,” Darst entered into the conversation. “There’s more ‘an one way to get past midworld. Ain’t the first time we’ve wanted to give anything east of Bandoon a miss. Nilsborg said Hakon told you ‘bout the Chianvetti Run?”

“Just the name,” Jack clarified.

“Captain Chianvetti was one right smart smuggler,” Nilsborg intoned. “Might be the only one who sailed over every bit of every ocean. He’s the one who went and found a way t’get south without going near Nolot Atrand. Wasn’t always just dragon hunters making berth there.”

“Old pirate haunt. Why’d you think dragon hunters took to it?” Darst questioned.

Hiccup and Jack shot each other a look. Johann used to entertain them with wild tales. Nilsborg did not give into exaggeration, but he also presented more than few stories that proved just as entertaining. Trading life entailed a fair amount of risk few others encountered. Hence, neither Berkian could dispute the sailors’ knowledge regarding pirates and the history of the islands and oceans of Halla. Dressed in their daily sailing clothes, the passengers admitted the crew looked more like the smith and woodworker attire after several seasons of regular use, it lent them an even more credible air. The two men, like the rest of the crew, looked fit and hail from their life at sea. Clear eyes studied the Berkians.

“Now the Chianvetti Run starts a two days east of Bandoon and further south. Hakon says he can use the stars t’guide us east… southeast ‘til we make the passage proper. Then it’s a clear shot south,” the shipboard first mate informed them.

“But, gents, I’ll warn you right now it’s not the easiest of sailing. Currents and winds get… odd ‘round midworld. Summer storms can be fierce when they blow in,” the captain stated in a firm and solemn voice.

They heard the same warning when first planning the trip with Nilsborg. Jack understood the scientific reasons why the waters and weather around the equator acted strange: the Coriolis Effect would be in full force. North of the equator the currents and winds would bend to the left toward the west, opposite of Earth since Halla experienced a clockwise rotation. South of the equator everything would bend to the right. Moreover, the Coriolis Effect contributed to the creation and movement of hurricanes. The slightly larger size of the planet with a slightly larger sun radiating with slightly greater intensity would increase the scale of storms. The combined effects created seemingly unpredictable eddies and whorls in the air and oceans unless one could see them from space where the patterns became clearly evident. However, the state of Hallan technology did not afford them such understanding. Jack would only partially reveal what he said in the form of questions and pondering about the phenomenon. To the best of the ability of Nilsborg and Darst, they tried to adequately explain the risks to the Berkians.

“What do you really think, Jack?” Hiccup asked in a way that hid half of his real intent. Namely, did Jack possess a better understanding the risks with his advanced knowledge.

“I’d rather face odd currents and weather ‘stead of dragon hunters,” the hidden Guardian rumbled as he thought. “At least those aren’t personal. Besides, this is an experienced crew, so I trust they know what to look for and do.”

“Not our first time over the center,” Nilsborg said with confidence.

Hiccup and Jack locked eyes. Although they could not telepathically communicate, they did see significance in each other's’ expressions. After five seconds, Jack began to nod his head. He wanted to spend time alone with Hiccup away from the concerns of Berk. If it meant three or four days of rough seas, he could live with that.

“Yeah,” Hiccup slowly drawled out the word. “That’s workable. It’s not like we haven’t sailed before, so we can lend a hand if things get rough.”

Jack nodded his head more vigorously.

“Fine, fine,” the captain said and gripped each by a shoulder. “With you pitching in a hand here and there, we’ll make it t’Quezchtal in good time since this’ll cut four or five days off our plan. Might even get t’see a few of the rare spots we trade in, too.”

The mood seemed to shift around them. Excitement and expectation replaced concern and doubt. Darst spread the word to the rest of the crew. Nilsborg said they could relax until such time as they might be needed. He called out Morleo to change their heading and sail round Traitor’s Cabin and aim for a southeastern course. Hiccup and Jack stood at the prow and watched a five-person crew nimbly steer a fair-sized vessel. The Island Miss swung about on the port side and cut a wide path around the island of the damned to avoid the hidden dangers of the shoals. Hiccup loped an arm around his husband’s waist and hugged him.

“Know what? I feel better about doing this instead of going back to Berk,” the Viking said.

“Me, too,” Jack concurred.

“Now, what do you really think we’re going to face?”

Jack paused and made a small catalog in his mind before he said: “The seas will get rougher as we get near the equator. The biggest threat is a hurricane or typhoon… whatever they call it. The worst will probably be a hundred miles or so before and after the equator. Storms ride along the air currents and will be heading toward us as we head east ‘til we dip into the southern hemisphere. Then they’ll start coming at us from the west.”

“Is there anything you don’t know?” Hiccup teased.

“Sure, like how skill lightning turns wood into rock… or how you can balance that head of yours on such a thin neck. You’ve got to be exhausted by the end of the day,” Jack casually fired back.

“Well, we’re gonna have to tie you to the mast if the winds pick up or else your ears will act like wings and pull you off the deck.”

Seconds later they started snickering and then outright laughing. Jack leaned into Hiccup. Of all the transformation he witnessed over the past two years, watching his mate relearn to relax and find humor in life tended to please him the most. Hiccup began enjoying life again. As in the past, the passion with which he lived attracted Jack to him. They watched the shadows change direction and begin to point from where they just left. The voyage continued to move forward.

Life for the dragons on a ship made for an interesting affair. Hiccup and Jack no longer needed to feed their beasts since neither showed any hesitation at diving off the ship to pursue fish on their own. Since they first left Berk, their riders noticed a bit of a rivalry emerge between Toothless and IceSpike as to which dragon could land the biggest fish. As they headed further east and south, new varieties of marine life began to catch their notice. The Berkians got to see types of fish not seen in the waters around their island. More than once Hiccup and Jack wrestled a fish from their dragons so they could examine it. As a result, the dragons tended to perch on the bowsprit to eat their catch. It became a game for all four. Even the crew of the Island Miss enjoyed watching the antics.

Following two days of sailing non-stop on a southeasterly route, the Island Miss turned directly south. During the nights Hakon and Morleo silently adjusted their course. It seemed the quiet man truly did know every constellation in the sky and knew how to navigate by the stars. On the morning of the fourth day, the sun got hid behind a thin veil of clouds. The humidity rose and not even the breeze driving the Island Miss to the equator seemed capable of cooling them. As the same time a threat emerged that did not present itself earlier on the voyage: water dragons.

“Hoy! Starboard! Starboard!” Kenna called from her position in the crow’s nest.

Since they arrived on a route not heavily traveled by other ships, the dragons of the deep showed less fear of the ships. Twice during the day they got bumped from beneath. Toothless and IceSpike took the skies and fired warning shots at the local denizens. They flew circles around the craft eyeing the water. IceSpike launched another volley at a moving shadow below the surface, and it promptly disappeared. Hiccup and Jack privately admired the fact they did not need to instruct the winged sentinels. Toothless and IceSpike long since learned to deal with their wild cousins.

“And this is why you’re important t’this trip,” Nilsborg said without any hint of irony after the tame dragons chased off the interlopers. “Don’t need t’direct much, do you?”

“We’ve had our fair share of run-ins with wild dragons,” Hiccup stated. “They won’t kill if they can avoid it, but these two aren’t afraid to use whatever it takes to keep us safe.”

“IceSpike can go to extremes sometimes,” Jack commented.

“It’s the nature of woolly howls. Once they start an attack, they rarely give up. They’ll fight to the death,” the senior dragon rider said in a grave manner.

“Most of the time I can call her back,” IceSpike’s companion said, but he emphasized the first part of the statement.

They watched the dragons land. Toothless settled on the rail of the poop deck behind the tiller. IceSpike landed on the forecastle at the apex and swung her head from side to side scanning the water. She exhibited every sign of being on alert and, more importantly, agitated. Toothless appeared less antsy, but he seemed just as diligent as he, too, surveyed the area behind the ship. The craft continued to plow through the water. After a quarter of an hour, Toothless returned to the top of his dragon house. It took IceSpike twice as long before she ended her vigil. Once she did, Jack joined Hiccup in comforting and rewarding the dragons for their service. The other members of the crew also stopped by to give them a multitude of pats and vociferous words of thanks. Both the riders could tell the dragons absolutely loved the attention.

“You’ve bought yourselves some extra protection,” Hiccup told the crew at the evening meal. “You keep praising them like that, and they’ll be going after seaweed next thinking it’s a threat.”

The sailors of the Island Miss chuckled.

“Don’t know how much dragons communicate with each other, but maybe they’ll spread the word we’ve got us two riding along,” Darst opined.

Morleo rolled his eyes, and Hakon grinned. They ate slices of dried mutton made soft by boiling it in water along with dried root vegetables. It turned into a kind of stew. Hakon prepared it. It seemed the members of the vessel took turns serving in the galley. The results varied by person.

“Actually, they might… in their own draconic way,” Jack said through a smile. “Dragons tend think as a group, so they might spread some idea defending dragons are on this ship.”

“But there’d be a fair bit of ocean out there,” Kenna remarked and pointed with her fork. “Can’t get word to all the wet beasties now, can they?”

As happened repeatedly in certain conversations, Hiccup and Jack glanced at each while shrugging. The crew of the Island Miss challenged the depth of their knowledge regarding dragons. It became apparent they understood the varieties of creatures around Berk and some of the outlying waters, but this far south and nearly atop the midworld put them quite literally out of their league. More and more they encountered the edge of their ignorance. Instead of answering, the shoveled food into their mouths. Nilsborg smirked and Kenna made a grunting noise.

“Look,” Hiccup said after swallowing his mouthful, “do you know every type of fish in every sea on the world?”

“No, can’t say as we do,” Morleo admitted, “but we know a good share between us.”

“Okay, but how many years did it take to get that knowledge?” Jack continued and seemed to read Hiccup’s mind.

His question got met by a series of mumbles.

“Neither of us have ever been this far south, so you can’t expect us to know each species of dragon and what their personalities are like. Yeah, we can make broad assumptions about dragon behavior, but that’s about it at this point,” Jack conclude when Hiccup simply raised his eyebrows.

“Alright, that’s fair. T’be honest, maybe we should know more ‘bout the ones we see most often,” Nilsborg said, and it seemed to cap the discussion. “And having you and them dragons of yours here in these waters is worth its weight in gold. You likely know a hold-more than all the rest of put together.”

“Aye,” Darst muttered and nodded his head.

Even Hakon bobbed his head in agreement. The rest of the meal passed with Hiccup and Jack revealing as much as they could about dragons in general. Some of what they presented came as a surprise to the crew, especially the bit concerning the draconic hatred of eel. What the Berkians wanted to impart came in the form of respect for the creatures. Fear lead to lifetimes of dying and fighting on both sides. Jack urged Hiccup to recount again how he came into companionship with Toothless and what it took to win the love of a dragon, and the crew of the Island Miss listened with rapt attention because the Viking revealed more detail. When he finished, they stared at him with somewhat agog expressions.

“Trust me: I understand how hard it is to face the fact almost everything you know about dragons is wrong,” he said, rephrasing a line he uttered as a young teenager. “But without admitting that, we wouldn’t be here today. Me and most of the people I love might be dead from fighting dragons. Toothless might be dead. I wouldn’t have Jack. Everything… maybe not everything, but almost everything changed the moment I refused to kill a dragon. What I got by taking that chance to trust Toothless I can’t even begin to calculate… and it’s so much more than I would’ve got if I sliced his throat open.”

The two men from Berk privately and silently enjoyed watching the horrified looks that crossed the faces of the sailors at the mere hypothetical mention of killing Toothless. It meant the change he wanted for these people already started to take root. The crew of the Island Miss held dragons in enough esteem they brought two along on a voyage to drive the wild dragons away instead of outright slaughtering them. It gave the passengers on the ship a sense of hope.

“Just watching you with your dragons is all the proof I need,” Hakon stated in his quiet voice, and then he looked down at his hands. “Still can’t really believe I get to touch them without losing all my fingers.”

“Hear! Hear!” Nilsborg immediately seconded the sentiment.

The dragon riders got a rousing chorus of support. It seemed a good omen, and sailors deeply believed in omens, for the start of their actual trip to the middle of the world and parts south of that. After the meal, both Hiccup and Jack felt compelled to spend some time with their winged companions. Both dragons warbled in delight from the rubbing and scratching while the sun set and turned the clouds scudding in from west into ribbons of fire. They noted the crew watched them interact with the dragons but did not intrude. The Island Miss sailed steadily on tacking across the winds blowing in from the west. The ruddy and somewhat gaudy sunset painted a beautiful if surreal backdrop for the end of an interesting day.

That night and as quietly as they could, Hiccup and Jack gave into their passion for one another. Although they made love two other times aboard the ship, they bore in mind only heavy canvas acted as walls for their makeshift room. The swinging of the hammock they used as a bed, set to motion as the ship carved through the waves, aided in their cavorting. By the time they fell asleep a couple of hours later, a glow of contented happiness surrounded them. Before slumber took them, Hiccup summed up the moment.

“I think I get what a honeymoon is now,” he told his husband through a small yawn.

Jack just smiled and curled up against the man.

For two days the dragon riders enjoyed the voyage even when it did get choppy. They set about making small repairs without being asked, and that drew appreciative looks from the crew. As they worked, the personnel of the Island Miss explained the function of the more complicated rigging never used on a Viking longboat. It afforded Hiccup and Jack a keener eye in regard to the repairs they made. At mealtimes they got treated more like crew than passengers. Of course, part of the accord rested with the two creatures roosting on the deck. Toothless and IceSpike patrolled the waters around the ship several times a day and warned off the wild dragons. The Berkians observed the shadows the saw in the ocean and tried to estimate the size of the sea creatures. They appeared to grow larger than what they saw in the northern waters. All the little changes in their daily routines enhanced the overall experience. Hence, they slept fitfully in the rocking ship.

“Lads!” Nilsborg voice loudly intruded into their sleep on the night of the third day since beginning the Chianvetti Run. “Get dressed. We need yous both up top.”

In a sleep-addled confusion, Hiccup and Jack gracelessly exited the hammock and went in search of clothes. Jack, in midst of locating his pants, stood bolt upright. He nearly hit his head on a spar as he nervously glanced around. Hiccup watched the actions of the Earthling and it triggered a sense of warning in his head.

“Jack?” Hiccup asked.

“Feel the ship, Hiccup,” Jack said.

He needed only to wait for fifteen second when the Island Miss seemed to lurch to one side. Hiccup’s arm shot out to steady himself against the sidewall of their room near the bow of the ship on the crew deck. Moments later the vessel heaved in the other direction.

“Storm!” They said in unison, and then raced to get dressed.

A few minutes later they struggled to climb the stairs taking them to the main deck. A fierce wind blew against everything, and heavy drops of rain spattered the deck. They could hear Nilsborg shouting out instructions from his station at the tiller. Kenna rushed by heading for the mainmast. The Berkians looked first to their dragons. Toothless and IceSpike both sat atop of and clutched at the slats of their houses. Their strong claws held them in place. Their riders noted they furled their wings tightly to their bodies. Once settled on the idea their dragons would be safe in their own manner, the humans battled the elements to get to the aft section of the craft. It felt as if their world wobbled precariously from side to side.

“Now would be a good time t’prove you’ve done time at sea,” Nilsborg shouted at them above the growing wind. “Check the hatches and cover ‘em over if they ain’t already. Lock down the grates. Kenna and Hakon are lowering the sail. Mor is securing the anchor, and Darst is tending the rudder down below. Help out where you can and listen for my whistle.”

Even though he spent over fifteen years as a leader of dragon riders, Hiccup snapped to attention and turned about. With that display, Jack followed suit. They did not speak and separated at the bottom of the stairs. Jack ran to the starboard side while Hiccup shot down the port gangway. Six large cargo hatches lined the mid-deck: two aft of the mainmast and four at the fore. Each dragon rider struggled to secure the grates and slide the cotter pins into hasps. The pitching of the ship made for unsteady work as the waves gradually increased in size. A greenish, dim light came from the sky, and it told both men they worked in the dawn despite it looking like twilight.

Jack nearly got pulled into the sky when a powerful gust of wind snagged the canvas cover in his hand. He managed to both hang onto the port grate and the piece of material. Once he dropped down to the deck, he studied the cover. A length of rope got woven through grommets around the perimeter. A bow rested at one end, and the Guardian in hiding ascertained the process. He glanced at his mate who wrestled with the cover to get it over the large, square opening. Jack set himself to the same task. Wind, waves, and increasing rain turned the job into a trying endeavor.

They spent almost half an hour securing the hatches. In better weather it would take only a matter of minutes to complete securing the hatches. The met at the fore of the mid-deck. Jack looked at his hands. Only years of working with wood kept the flesh from being stripped from his palms by the coarse and wildly flailing covers. Hiccup leaned in toward him.

“Still one more up front. Come on!” He yelled against the gale that started to howl.

A shiver ran through Jack as he fought the rain and wind. His body prickled in an unusual manner. It felt like small bugs crawled over him where his skin got exposed to the elements. His brown eyes scanned the skies as he pushed himself forward. The clouds, angry and dark, billowed around one another. Soon the sun would be blotted entirely from his vision. Jack’s eyes shifted to the water. Anvil black waves rose up, frosted white with foam for a sea gone mad, and slapped in every direction. In the far distance a finger of lightning touched the water. The water roared in defiance. Jack’s body thrummed in response.

“No!” Jack exclaimed in his normal voice, but Hiccup could not hear him.

The storm grew more furious by the minute. The Island Miss proved her worth as she rode up and down the swells that began to look like small mountains. The sky turned a horrendous dark gray color as wind whipped out of them. More lightning lanced from the heavens. Thunder crashed against the surge that beat upon the vessel. Fear gripped Jack as a slow realization began to form in his mind. He staggered against the gusts to reach the side of his mate. Hiccup crouched and examined the grate over the hatch.

“It’s pinned,” the Viking yelled at the top of his lungs. “But we need to cover it. Now! Before we take on too much water.”

Jack nodded and shoved aside his pressing need to explain what he knew to be true. Around the ship ragged tendrils of white, hot destruction stabbed at the sea. The ocean seemed to bellow in rage and threw titanic waves into the air. The two men desperately fought to keep hold of the canvas cover as they worked together to drag it over the opening. The peels of thunder, like stone boulder split by gigantic hammers, thudded around them. Wind the likes of which neither man ever experienced tore at their clothes and flesh, seized the square of canvas, and launched them into the air. The bugle of a dragon, pitiful and weak against the storm, sounded from some point. Hiccup and Jack both slammed into the mast fifteen feet above the deck. Hiccup started to slip, but Jack’s sure hand suddenly gabbed his soaked shirt. The Earthling held tightly to both his husband and the trunk of wood. He let himself slide downward, although the situation did not afford Jack much of an option. The Berkians reached the deck as wet madness swamped them. Only the mast kept them from being washed into the violent ocean.

“Hiccup!” Jack shouted as loudly as he could. “This storm… it… this isn’t natural!”

“What?” Hiccup yelled in response and his eyes bore into his mates.

“It’s Blikse’fey up there,” he replied and pointed upward with an elbow. “She’s fighting The Lady of the Seas!”

Jack watched Hiccup’s face sag into a visage of woe. The Island Miss heaved to and fro on the crazed ocean. A driving rain tried to drown them as waves boiled over the deck and attempted to do the same. They held onto the mast. Hiccup’s mind raced as he absorbed the news. A dire thought crossed his mind, but he needed confirmation of one fact.

“How do you know?” He hollered with all his might.

“I… feel it!” Jack rejoined in what sounded like a quasi-terrified voice.

“Can you tell them to stop!”

Jack shook his head back and forth. At the same time the craft began to lean heavily to one side. Hiccup and Jack hung onto the mast with all their might. They both heard a dragon, but neither could act. Hiccup realized he would not even be able to see Toothless in the typhoon. The wind made it all but impossible to discern which of the dragons called out in distress. Fear, the kind he saw on Jack’s face and a type he only experienced once when confronting Lord of Winter, took root in his chest. The storm intensified. Lightning and thunder assaulted eyes and ears. Swells larger than the dragon caves on Berk hammered against the Island Miss. Strong though ship might be, both men knew it could not take that kind of sustained punishment. They could do little to help. Clinging to the mast remained their only recourse lest they be whisked into the sea.

Against all seeming odds, they felt a rope being lashed around them. They got tied to the mast. Hakon secured them. The torrent around the trio stole any chance of communication other than anxious and frightened glances. The Berkians saw fear on the face of insanely strong man. It did nothing to calm them. Slowly, as though something stole his strength, Hakon sat next to Hiccup, and then wrapped his ridiculously thick arms around them. He did so while the ship pointed straight upward into the air. Hiccup and Jack both knew beyond a shadow of a doubt they would get thrown from the vessel without the intervention of the sailor.

Gods fought. Jack called them gods in his head. His deeply buried power tingled at their presence. For the first time in his life he understood what Hiccup faced on the day he lay dying, and then when he got returned to life. The monumental bravery of the Viking in those days stole Jack’s breath more soundly than the raging wind ripping past him. Since being granted a mortal existence, the Guardian felt real terror at the thought it could get taken from him. The Island Miss all but lay on its side as the tempest from the sea and sky battered the ship. He heard a scream. Hakon lost his grip and slid down the deck surface and got consumed by the water. The two men, tied in place by rope, could only watch in horror at the loss of their friend.

Like a drunken yak the Island Miss righted itself, but it continued to list to one side. No one needed to tell Hiccup it took on water. As much a child of the water as an adopted son of the sky, he knew the ship would eventually sink. Aside from Jack and the now lost Hakon, they saw no other person. The Viking doubted the study captain could remain at the tiller under such conditions. Kenna likely got washed overboard like Hakon. Morleo probably got thrown into the sea first as he attempted to secure the anchor to keep it from punching holes in the side of the ship. Hiccup could barely imagine what Darst faced trapped in the belly of the craft. It seemed reasonable to assume he got beaten to death by flying cargo or drowned in the water flowing into the hold. He glanced at his husband.

For over two years Jack adjusted to living as fully-fledged mortal. He stopped hearing the primal entities of Halla. Never once did he detect a flesh hungerer when he and Hiccup reveled in their passion. Noro remained as silent as Elada did on Earth. Like all other Hallans, Jack gradually became ignorant, perhaps willfully so, of the powers that shared the planet with the mortals. In the back of his mind he always felt grateful he would be spared hearing one particular sound last heard when Isemaler, Grimtooth Skovaks, perished. In a distant, almost imperceptible manner just at the very edge of his hearing, the sound returned. Somewhere far below and to the side where the Island Miss valiantly tried to stay afloat, Jack heard the song of The Breathless One. He squeezed his eyes shut and tied not to vomit. The Earthling began to shudder.

Jack sobbed into the dark of the storm that whipped around them like insanity in physical form. He continued to sense Blikse’fey and Du buh Lach Nahr doing battle with one another. Immortal energies raged as the sky sought to quell the sea, and the ocean rebuffed all attempts. Neither could dominate the other, and yet neither would yield. The sea roared like an enraged animal, but its voice contested against the strains of the winds that screamed like a banshee. The ocean became a hellish landscape of dark mountains capped in white rising high into the air. The Island Miss got reduced to a mere speck of wood in comparison. The vessel rose scores of feet into the air, only to slide down the other side in a terrifying, pell-mell fashion. Fore and aft no longer mattered. How the boat remained upright defied the imagination. The Island Miss disappeared into insignificance in the face of the warring ethereal entities. Whatever people remained aboard became even less significant. The powers of air and sea either did not care or did not know they would kill all aboard the craft.

The ship violently shifted in another direction. The two men tied to the mainmast could hear in the decks below loud thumps as cargo and other items flew unimpeded through the belly of the ship. It made a terrible din. It did not bode well for whoever might be on the lower decks. As the forces of water and wind waged their unrelenting battle with one another, the Island Miss began to groan. It withstood an unbelievable amount of punishment, bit it seemed at last to reach the literal breaking point. Hiccup cracked open an eye. During a flash of lightning and the thunder that pressed down on him light a weight, he saw the bowsprit snap off like an errant twig from one of Jack’s chisels. It began, and the Island Miss started to get pulled apart one piece at a time. Intermingled with the crashing thunder came the noise of splitting wood.

“Jack! Jack!” Hiccup screamed into the ashen face of his husband. “We have to get off the ship! It’s being torn to bits! Jack!”

Jack heard and looked at his beloved while his brain tried to shut out the call of death that seemed miles away and yet right over his shoulder. He knew Aita did not act of out of capricious depravity or needless malice: Death simply went where something died. In a brief instant Jack got hit with the realization Aita spanned the globe at all times and likely reached across the entire demesne of space. It made his brain hurt worse than when he tried to contemplate the existence of Pulhu. The Guardian in hiding, the Guardian who could not touch or unleash his abilities, sat next to his new husband facing the very real probability he would return to Earth in a short while. He stared at Hiccup and felt an acute sense of loss. Seconds later Hiccup’s fist hit him square in the forehead.

“Why the hell did you do that?” Jack yelled at Hiccup.

“Get your pocking head on and think. We need to abandon the ship before it takes us down with it!” The Viking rejoined in the same tone. “Find something to float on. NOW!”

“What about IceSpike and Tooth…”

“They’re dragons, Jack, and they’ve both flown through weather as bad as this,” Hiccup shouted and hoped he sounded more certain than he felt.

Jack nodded his head.

“I’m going to cut the rope when the ship is level.”

Jack maintained presence of mind enough to roll his eyes at the statement.

“Well, when it’s less vertical!” Hiccup amended. He watched as the man he loved did not move. “Jack, what in himmel is wrong with you.”

“It’s… here,” the Earthling mouthed as much as spoke the words. “I can hear it.”

Only one thing on the planet got to be It with a specific intent since Hiccup did not like to hear the names of the thing. Crystal clarity as to what sapped Jack’s will let itself be known. He, himself, faced The Breathless One once, but never in the manner he saw Jack defy Death. Before that Jack got mentally scarred by the realization that no matter how hard he tried, no matter how powerful he grew, he could not always save children. Death would always beat him. Furthermore, Aita waited for the day when Jack’s mortal body on Halla would perish and payment would come due. Hiccup only witnessed the end of life in very certain circumstances. Jack saw it up close several times, and it reopened the wound on his psyche each time. Since he could not actually fight Death, Hiccup resorted to what he could do. He punched Jack in the head again.

“Ow! Dammit! What do you keep doing that?” Jack hollered in anger.

“Because he’s not here for you. Not today. And he’s not here for me, either. I refuse to lose to these… these… mucking nuisances of gods. Now get ready!” Hiccup responded to Jack’s anger, and he used it to fuel his own actions.

The Island Miss careened through the dark valley created by the enormous waves. Hiccup tried time it so they could at least get a running start. He pulled out his knife and waited for the bow of the ship to stop dipping. Before he could cut the rope, an explosion of sort bombarded his ears. The Viking ducked his head as white light blinded him. Streamers of pain ran down his back, his arms, and into his hips. Jack shrieked in pain as well. Lightning hit the mast and blasted two thirds of it to bits. The upper yardarm snapped above their heads while the wood burst into momentary flame. The sail began to unfurl and get tossed about in the wind. Spars of wood still attached to the canvas sheets swung around like bolas. The broken wood tore into the fabric of the sails. All the while Hiccup and Jack tried to regain their senses.

The Guardian managed to get his bearings. The crack of wood echoed around them through the din of the storm. Hiccup spoke true: the boat began to disintegrate. He saw the Viking still hung onto his belt knife. Jack pried it from his husband’s hand. Once his, the Earthling hacked at the rope securing them to the remains of the mast. Hiccup gradually focused on his actions. The well-made rope resisted the edge of the blade, but it could not withstand for long. Jack’s persistence started to win. One of the cables snapped and unwound from the main cord. He realized their fortune could not last as the dying ship got buffeted between monstrous wave. Lightning sizzled in the sky and provided the only light. It stung Jack’s eyes, but he continued to saw at the rope.

“Get ready!” Hiccup yelled as he watched the progress. “Grab anything to stay…”

His words got cut short as the last cable broke and the two men started to tumble down the deck that bucked and heaved. Hiccup scrambled madly to lay his hand on anything. Jack did the same. The angry report of breaking planks reached their ears. The front of the ship moved in the opposite direction as the stern as competing eddies pushed at the craft. It slowly broke on one side. The tattered sail whipped through the air as part of it snagged on the jagged remains of the mast. The dark mass of water raced up to meet the feet of the men. Hiccup managed to curl around something that felt buoyant and wooden. He reached out to grab Jack, but he outpaced his husband in the descent. Then he saw Jack screaming into the tempest, flailing his arms as if he meant to crawl up the shattering deck. The Viking landed in the water in a panic.

Jack struggled to clamber over the splintering surface. He saw where part of the sail flew backward. It wrapped around the dragon houses that incredibly stayed lashed to the gunwale. Sticking out from a tear in the sail the man saw a white wing poking through and wildly thrashing. IceSpike somehow clung to her shipboard house throughout the storm. Then she got tied to it when a broad piece of canvas wrapped around her body and perch. Jack could not hear her, but he saw his beloved dragon struggle against the entrapment. The visible wing flapped to no effect. The lump under the wet sheet writhed. All visible under the flashing lightning. Jack screamed and yelled her name. A chunk of the ship slammed into his side and drove him down the deck into the furious water. The sea closed over him, and all became silent. All except for a lone sound.

The Earthling curled into a ball as the knowledge he failed both his husband and dragon filled his brain. A senseless rage exploded inside of him at the warring gods who cared nothing for human life. A wrath more powerful than what assailed him when found where Hiccup got held prisoner on Earth took form. A blinding light seared his brain, and not from lightning. It felt as if his body burned. An anguished wail ripped out of Jack’s mouth and bubbled into the water like a jet flame. In the midst of his terrible pain, both emotional and physical, darkness came over him. As he lost consciousness, Jack did not care how he met Aita. He would not spare Death his anger.


	6. Chapter 6

Hiccup shivered. He shivered so much it woke him. Then he realized he felt very cold and his muscles cramped from it. The world heaved about, but not as recklessly or violently as his most recent memories recalled. When his eyes opened, he let out shout. Jack faced him with eyes wide open. They did not blink. Hiccup resumed the panic he engendered when he fell from the ship as he gazed at the lifeless face of his husband. He kicked his legs, tried to back away, and stand all at the same time.

“Pock it!” The Viking yelled when he got to his feet and only managed to slip and fall.

He landed on a hard surface: a cold, hard surface. Hiccup’s brain told him to go slowly when trying to gain footing on ice. He ran his hand along the slick sheet of ice. The man sat up and glanced around. A disk of ice at least thirty feet across lay under him. Then he forced himself to look at Jack. Hiccup trembled in confusion and mostly fear. Four seconds later he breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw Jack’s chest rise and fall. The Viking gingerly slid over to his mate.

“Jack,” Hiccup quietly said and shook the Earthling. “Jack!”

Jack remained unresponsive. Hiccup scooped him into his arms. The body felt chill, and much colder than he remembered his mate feeling when in Guardian form. The Viking began to vigorously rub every part of Jack he could reach. Cold leached up through the bottom of his pants, but he cared more about warming the man he loved. For several long and seemingly fruitless minutes his tried to massage heat in the slender frame held close to him.

“Jack, please. Jack… wake up. Don’t do this. Don’t leave me,” he begged while his hands worked.

Hiccup ran his hands and arms under Jack’s thin flax shirt and rubbed the cool skin. His brain tried to make sense of the situation. It did not take much to imagine his man somehow managed to tap into his frost power. However, Hiccup could not imagine what it would take to freeze that much salt water into a solid disk the size of which stunned him. Salt water did not like to solidify into ice except under the most extreme conditions. The Viking could only assume the Guardian awoke in his mate and unleashed the full force trapped inside. He applied more effort at reviving Jack.

“Hiccup?” Jack whispered almost a quarter of an hour later.

“Oh, gods!” Hiccup heaved and began kissing the cheek and neck of his husband in sheer gratitude at hearing the voice.

“What… the storm… no!” Jack muttered, and then he began to cry. He rolled onto his side and buried his face into his mate’s chest as the memories returned to him.

“Jack, no, please. We’re alive. We survived. What is it?”

It took more than a minute before Jack could control his voice and squeak out: “Ice… Spike. Trapped. Didn’t… couldn’t get… free. Sank.”

Terrible anguish burned in Jack as his mind played out the image of his dragon trapped under the sail struggling to free herself while the ship got pulverized by the merciless waves. A renewed rage, near hatred, at The Lady of the Seas and the Thunder Queen blossomed in his mind. However, he did not feel anything except the emotion. He could remember only his fury at the realization IceSpike would get pulled to her doom, to Aita, with the death of the Island Miss. He wept at the injustice something as pure and vital as his dragon would meet her end at sea. Jack longed to feel her scales under his hand. His heart continued to break.

“Jack,” Hiccup said the name in blunt, dull voice. “Toothless?”

“Don’t… know. Didn’t see,” Jack gasped the words while grief swamped his senses.

The faces of the crew of the Island Miss rolled through the mind in the tortured brown-haired head. They befriended Hiccup and him, treated them as compatriots rather than passengers, and fought to keep them alive. Gone, the thought echoed. All of them gone: Nilsborg, Darst, Kenna, Morleo, and Hakon. Their generosity to the two Berkians cost them everything in the end. Jack felt wretched.

Hiccup wrestled with his thoughts. The notion IceSpike drowned sickened him beyond measure; yet his mind kept returning to Toothless. Jack said he did not know, and the Viking knew his husband would not lie to him about such an important issue. He could only hope one of the dragon bugles came from Toothless as he got free of ship and terror of the storm. Hiccup allowed himself the belief and hope his precious dragon still lived and might even be in search of his rider. As he calmed himself regarding Toothless, Hiccup saw he faced a serious issue in helping Jack deal with the death of IceSpike if she truly died. Jack seemed convinced, and the Earthling rarely gave himself over to exaggeration on weighty topics.

“Jack, was there any chance…” Hiccup began to say in a gentle voice.

“No,” Jack bluntly cut in with a hoarse voice. “She couldn’t get free. I saw it, Hiccup, I saw how she was tangled in the sail… couldn’t get free. The ship was being destroyed… sinking.”

His voice dropped to a whisper with the final word as though his hopes sank with the admission. Hiccup hugged him tight, and there he found some succor from the pain ebbing through every part of his body on all three fronts: emotional, physical, and psychological. Part of him wondered why he ever wanted to return to mortal life. Time, as it passed, did not give. It only took. Sometimes in slow motion, and at others in the blink of an eye. A small piece of Jack’s mind told him IceSpike likely did not suffer. She probably downed in less than a minute. While that could be true, the hidden Guardian morbidly considered, it still meant he faced a lifetime on Halla without her. The skies got denied to him. Anger burned in the pit of his stomach. He began to thrash and then pushed away from Hiccup.

“It was them!” He shouted and waved his arm around in a wide circle. “Them! The so-called gods of this planet. But I know what they really are. They’re selfish pocking entities who know nothing of life and care nothing for it. They just fought each other ‘cause they have nothing better to do. That’s all they’re worth!”

“Jack,” Hiccup said in a worried tone and slid closer to his mate. “They can hear you. I know they can. Lord of Winter heard me when I insulted him.”

“Fine. Good for them. Let them hear. Let them know this world doesn’t need them! They should be gone. Noro should destroy all of them right now! Let them know the fear of death. Let them hear the song of Aita!”

Jack screamed the words so loud he tasted blood in his mouth. His throat hurt. He watched as Hiccup glanced nervously around. Then a flat, irritated visage settled on his features. The Viking glared at the Earthling.

“It’s all fine and good for you to make them angry since you got a second life waiting for you after this one,” Hiccup rumbled. “I don’t have that luxury, Jack. When I die, it’s for one and only one time. I go wherever… he takes me. Toy with this life if you want to but remember what it means for me!”

The words felt worse than when Hiccup punched him in the head during the storm, and it rendered the same effect. It snapped Jack out of his angry tirade. Hiccup spoke the truth to him. Another life did await Jack, and he never really forgot that. He clung to his mortal life because he loved it, loved the people it brought, and loved each new experience it generated. Jack only feared death because it would mean an end to those aspects, but he would continue. Hiccup, conversely, would disappear into the void of Death and never return. The song would claim him for all eternity. Jack began to sober even though the pain continued to feel hot and raw.

“I can’t imagine… I never want to go through what you’re going through right now, but I’ve seen… you’ve seen what they can do when we challenge them,” Hiccup said and changed tactics when he saw the rage ease in his husband. “I know you could do a lot if you were Jack Frost right now, but he’s somewhere deep in you. You’re Jack Jorgenson Haddock-Fries. If you keep yelling at those beings, both of you will lose me next.”

The Guardian buried beneath layers of blood, bone, and flesh heard the entreaty in his mate’s voice. Hiccup spoke out of a different fear, and one that came with a mortal form of desperation. Hiccup saw enough death in his life to know exactly how permanently it takes a mortal, and the devastation it leaves in its wake. In his first mortal life, Jack could not remember losing anyone he loved, so it remained a non-personal abstract notion until the Berk Civil War and later with the death of Gobber. Even seeing the void of death at the bottom of the ocean did not make it personal. Remaining alive with all the memories and love he felt for a person cast the work of Aita in a new light. It made life eminently more tangible to Jack.

“What am I going to do without her?” He asked as tears again rolled down his face.

Hiccup slid over to his husband and held him again. Vivid memories of the damage done to Snotlout after the death of Hookfang sprang to mind. He did not want his husband to descend into such darkness. The Viking kissed the side of the face of the man in his arms.

“She’ll always live inside of you,” Hiccup quietly said. “Years from now… decades… centuries… IceSpike will fly with you. For now, we need to keep you alive to make sure those memories stay pure.”

Jack lowered his head and let the sadness sweep through him. His body shook as the sorrow took root. Only the presence of Hiccup kept the Earthling from sliding into the ocean and going back to his home planet. Hiccup’s love anchored him in the reality of Halla. The two of them purposefully did not discuss the dire situation that could send ultimately send Jack to Earth. Their hopes and world existed on a thick sheet of ice that would eventually melt in the warm waters of the midworld.

Later in the day Hiccup and Jack struggled to stay on the ice floe when the back end of the storm generated by the battle between Blikse’fey and Du buh Lach Nahr reached them. Although far less severe since the Hallan immortals no long engaged in direct conflict, and Jack confirmed that, it still posed a considerable threat. The clung to the detritus from the Island Miss trapped in the ice. It provided handholds, but neither man knew how long their already taxed strength would last. The waves and wind time and again threatened to wash them from the ice. It seemed only their desire to remain together kept them from a watery grave. Several hours after the worst passed, they lay on the ice staring at the dark, cloudy sky. Hunger and thirst became new traveling companions with the departure of the storm.

Only a numb sleep spared them from wretched discomfort.

The next morning Hiccup awoke to find Jack sucking on a depression in the ice. He stared in a mix of confusion and disgust at his husband’s action. Jack paused and glanced at him with haunted eyes.

“It’s water,” he said.

“But sea water?” Hiccup inquired.

“Not salty. That gets pushed out when the water freezes, so it’s mostly fresh,” Jack glumly informed the Viking.

Against what seemed like all reason, Hiccup looked around and found his own divot in the ice. It contained a small pool of water. The man crawled over to it, lowered his face, and lapped at it. The tang of salt rode across his tongue. He spit it out and sat up.

“Jack, it’s salty!” He complained.

“Swipe that water out if it. Then breath on the ice ‘til it melts. That will be fresh,” the mortal Guardian dully stated.

Hiccup did as instructed. Despite Jack’s mood, one which Hiccup could not fault, he did not dismiss the tremendous amount of knowledge contained in the brown-haired head. Moreover, Jack existed as a child of cold and ice on another world. Thus, it made sense he would know about this. Once he removed as much of the brackish water from the depression, the Viking lowered his face and began breathing on it. It took a few minutes, but he got a tongue-full of liquid. It barely tasted of salt. Surprised but pleased, Hiccup spent an hour lying on the ice creating as much liquid water as he could. It only partially slaked his thirst, but he realized they would not immediately die from dehydration.

“We’re going…” Hiccup began to say when suddenly the ice patch jolted in the water.

Both carefully scrambled to the edge of the wide disk and look over it. Jack saw a shadow gliding through the water below the surface. He did not recognize the configuration, but it did not appear to be a dragon. Then several more swam by, and one ran up against the bottom of the ice sheet. The people on it slid around.

“Some kind of fish. Big fish,” Jack said.

“Can we catch it?” Hiccup asked and managed to finish part of the though he started.

“With what?”

“Can’t we dig something out of the ice to use for fishing?”

“I don’t get how you can live all your life in a place that gets as cold and frozen as Berk and not know the basic physics of ice?” The Earthling morosely droned.

“Fine,” Hiccup snapped back. “The sun is going to melt this. The warm water is going to melt it. Anything dark will attract heat and melt the ice. The salt in the water is going to make it mushy around the edges. So, yes, Jack, I know a pocking thing or two about ice!”

Jack appeared and felt only marginally abashed. The memory and sadness at losing IceSpike still consumed him. He did not care if he made Hiccup angry at that point. Moreover, he did not even apologize for his indirect ascertain about Hiccup’s limited scientific knowledge.

“So I guess the choice is do we want to starve to death while we slowly freeze on this thing or do we want to drown when it melts faster ‘cause we chipped tools out of it. If we’re lucky either the sharks or some dragon will eat us first. I’m only saying this so you realize I know how much deep muck we’re in right now!”

Jack flinched. Hiccup spun around his butt, pushed with his feet, and slid over to his mate. He grabbed Jack by the shoulders. The Earthling slowly gazed at the Hallan. The green eyes sparked with intensity and light.

“I know you’re in a lot of pain right now. I know it probably hurts worse than anything you’ve ever felt before in your long life,” Hiccup said and let compassion color his words. “I can’t stop that pain. I can’t bring IceSpike back to life. I’m fighting against believing Toothless is… is… he could be dead, too.”

A grim silence floated between them.

“And if… gods forbid, if he is… gone, then all I’ve got left is you, Jack.”

Jack stared at him and nodded. He heard the logic in Hiccup’s words, but his savaged emotions did not possess the strength to latch on. His lowered his brown eyes.

“Right here, right now, all we have is each other. We have to try to survive. If we don’t, we might as well jump into the ocean and get it over with. But I don’t want to do that. If this situation is going to kill me, then I’m going out fighting,” Hiccup told him and gently shook Jack’s shoulders at the same time. “But I need you to help me. You’re the only hope I’ve got left.”

In the gray light of the new day, one already warm and becoming a threat to their vessel, Jack marveled at his husband’s ability to find a reserve of strength at the direst times. He needed to take is as an example, learn from it, and apply it to his mortal life. He nodded his head.

“I love you so much, Jack, and I know somehow we can get through this. We’ve been through so much already. We stood against a god and won for Wotan’s sake. We need to do this together.”

Jack raised his eyes and saw the fierce determination in his husband.

“I love you, too,” he replied, and the words gave him a momentary flicker of joy. “Tell me you understand… understand I don’t have the sky anymore. I can’t fly, Hiccup.”

The crux of Jack’s sorrow revealed itself. Hiccup felt as if boulder got dropped into his stomach and started to pull him down. One memory of Jack from when he first arrived at Berk Hiccup cherished nearly above all others. On the day he met Valka, his freshly minted mother-in-law, Jack talked of his abilities. As the Spirit of Fun talked of flying, it began to snow around him as his powers responded to his intense emotions. Finding a dragon for Jack became an early imperative as he began to live as a mortal. The loss of flight at the time weighed exceptionally heavy on the new mortal. When IceSpike bonded with him, the dragon became a vastly important symbol and a link to what Jack knew as the Guardian Jack Frost. Hiccup started to fathom the depth of despair his beloved must feel at watching IceSpike go to her grave. The face of his father flashed in his mind.

“As long as you’re with me, Jack, I will find you a way to fly. You have to give me time, and first you have to help me survive this, but I promise we’ll find a way to get you back in the air. You will fly again, Jack Fries!” Hiccup vowed with all his might.

Tears rolled down Jack’s cheeks, but he said: “I believe you, Hiccup. I believe in you.”

Those who did not know the reality of Jack could never understand the importance of those statements. It forced Hiccup to take his husband in his arms, hold him, and kiss the man as soundly as he could. He wanted the kiss to seal his promise. It took many seconds, but Jack began to respond. His arms lifted and encircled the man who held him in so many different ways. The loss and sadness did not entirely abate, but the passion of Hiccup’s lips and love allowed Jack to breathe freely for a moment. Hope did not completely die within him.

They sat with each other as the clouds continued to thin. A hazy sun journeyed upward. The morning grew hotter. The increasing temperature underscored their perilous situation. Jack told Hiccup when he found his voice he did not remember creating their island of ice. In fact, he recalled nothing once his mind turned into a searing mass of white as the Island Miss sank around him, taking his dragon along with it. However, Jack hesitantly, with a great deal of uncertainty, admitted the ice sheet as his handiwork. No other explanation presented itself. Privately Jack knew Lord of Winter did not create it since doing so would embroil him in the battle between the other immortals. Moreover, the recently created new Isemaler would lack the control to make the disk since she likely struggled to control and understand her powers the same as Jack suffered in his first few years as the resurrected Jack Frost. Lastly, Noro the Skydancer could be the source, but it seemed more probable she would simply transport to them to dry land. That left only one logical option.

The heat of the day made it easier for the two to get potable water from the ice. While not entirely sated, neither man burned with thirst. The last of the clouds dissipated by mid-morning and it left them under a blazing sun. It presented a new problem: the humans would get terribly burned if left exposed for the entire day, or days as appeared it might become. Jack gave into the notion they needed to pull resources from the ice sheet. He warned Hiccup to be careful around the edges as they began their hunt. In addition, Jack cautioned against trying to dislodge anything from the center of the ice as it might cause the sheet to break apart. Hiccup paid attention. The advice became criteria that guided the hunt.

By high noon they managed to free four lengths of planking and a long piece of rope. Jack stood back while Hiccup applied his creative mind. It did not take any real planning to discern their options. Hiccup lashed three of the planks together to form a panel, and then used the last piece as a prop. The makeshift lean-to offered just enough shade for both to sit cross-legged and hunched over to keep out of the sun. While far from comfortable, it saved them from getting burned and, incidentally, dehydrated. However, the heat and sun freed more water for their consumption. As they sat in the shade, Hiccup spent his time untwisting a scrape of rope. Jack watched as his husband carefully braided individual threads together to create a line. All the work Hiccup did in the short amount of time impressed Jack.

“You really are inventive,” Jack commented as the line Hiccup wove became longer. “How strong do you think that is?”

Hiccup wrapped the ends around his hand and tugged at it, but not hard enough so it snapped. His russet-haired head waggled back and forth a few times. Then he said: “It’ll hold maybe a quarter bucket of blackrock for small amount of time. Something the size of a large orange-tail needle fin.”

“Think they swim in these waters?”

“Doubtful. They’re cold water fish, I think.”

“What about a hook and bait?” Jack pressed.

“I was hoping to find a piece of wood with a nail in it or some other piece of wire, but the crew didn’t use much of that on the Island Miss. I noticed that when we first got on board,” Hiccup explained and dutifully avoided naming any of their lost friends.

“You can take the smith out the smithy…” the Earthling mumble part of the phrase.

“I’m hoping that’s true of the woodworker. I know you don’t have any tools, but… maybe something,” the Viking rejoined.

“All depends on what we can get our hands on. We just can’t pull too much of this, I guess, raft apart. We’ve got four or five days at most before it’s gone… and probably only three before we can’t stand on it anymore.”

Hiccup tilted his head to side and eyed his husband. The earlier brief but heated exchange over who knew what about ice did not need resolution. Hiccup would defer to Jack’s knowledge of anything frozen any day of the week, and then eight times over that. The Viking learned from costly experience that ice water literally flowed through Jack’s veins when he wore his other skin.

“Which means we’ve got to watch it as it melts and grab anything that floats free,” Hiccup said and did more than suggest. “There might be enough debris trapped in this that we can make something out of it.”

Jack shrugged. He honestly did not know. However, it stood to reason a goodly amount wreckage did get incorporated since Jack apparently created it while he remained close to the doomed Island Miss. Hiccup’s recommendation brought up a second requirement.

“We need to sleep in shifts, and we need to stand a night watch… and more than just to see what floats up. There’re creatures in these water that won’t be too friendly toward us,” Jack stated and added a new worry to their state of affairs.

“What do you think they make of the ice?” Hiccup responded instead of getting overly worried by the new concern.

“Probably confuses them. I don’t think icebergs float down here very often.”

Hiccup nodded. They lapsed into silence as each wrestled with his own thoughts. Hiccup thought while Jack privately admitted a malaise invaded him. His mind kept replaying his last minutes of consciousness on the Island Miss, and particularly the moments when IceSpike struggled against her entrapment. Jack felt like he murdered her by taking the dragon on a dangerous sea voyage far from her accustomed climes. He faulted himself because he did not fully appreciate or perceive the dangers at sea. He also faulted the Hallan immortals who never thought of the terrible price they extracted from the mortals. Once Jack accused Thursar H’rim of callous indifference when he saw the ship with children aboard sink into the icy depths of the north Hallan oceans. Thursar countered that the sailors understood and voluntarily took the risks. The memory of that conversation and all it implied stabbed at him.

Hiccup spent his time actively avoiding contemplating the possibility Toothless could be just as dead as IceSpike. He channeled his nervous energies on trying to tackle the immediate problems at hand, and plenty confronted them. The Viking considered the odds of surviving their current conditions ranged on the low to the very low end. If one dragon remained, then it would increase their odds tenfold. Bereft of any form of conveyance and totally dependent on a melting ice floe in the middle of an ocean did little to bolster his thinking. Periodically he and his husband adjusted the position of their lean-to as the sun headed overhead and toward the eastern horizon. Sometimes they took a break from there private rumination to lap up some water from their impromptu raft. They talked very little as the sun started to descend.

Hiccup finished making a fishing line. A little over fifteen feet sat coiled in his lap. However, without bait or hook the line did little to help them. He gazed out at the sea reflecting an almost cloudless sky. Perhaps they would get fortunate and some dead creature might drift their way. Hiccup nudged Jack with his elbow.

“Let me know if you see anything dead float by,” he requested.

“Why would you… oh,” Jack said in a flat voice, and then figured out the rational for the request. “Most dead things probably get eaten right away.”

“Never know. We might get lucky,” Hiccup challenged.

“Hopefully.”

Another few minutes of quiet passed.

“Jack, can you take first watch tonight? You got better eyes than me,” Hiccup asked.

The Earthling shifted around on his cold rear. He fervently wished another piece of wreckage would come free to help avoid frostbitten buttocks. The frozen but melting surface would make for uncomfortable sleep if he could even fall asleep. Jack glanced at the sky and made quick calculation in his head.

“Yeah, but new moon is coming up. Won’t be a lot of light ‘cept the stars,” the other man commented.

“I know, but we’d be foolish not to keep watch.”

“Agreed,” Jack agreed.

To keep his mind occupied, Jack studied the drift and rotation pattern of the ice disk. Whatever current propelled the frozen raft drove them in a southeasterly direction. He noted the rotation spun them counter-clockwise, the opposite direction of Halla’s rotation. The Earthling tried to remember what he learned about ocean currents, but then gave up in frustration because he only ever studied air currents. Jack seldom touched the oceans when on Earth since he flew everywhere. However, something in his brain said ocean currents would play an important role in what happened to them. He wished he knew what to expect.

Hiccup pondered what to do about food. Neither he nor Jack boasted a surplus amount of body fat. Life working in the smith and wood shops coupled with wrangling dragons and defending Berk tended to burn away any excess weight. The dragon riders, all of them and not just Fries-Haddocks, tended toward the thin side compared to the rest of their clan. Even the fisherpeople tended to be stouter. Hiccup never before considered the unusual trend. It gave way to the fact their bodies would begin to consume themselves in a few short days as the need for sustenance grew critical. Hiccup saw enough people who got stranded at sea to know exactly what they faced regarding starvation.

They adjusted the lean-to as the ice slowly spun and the two men faced sunset. The day seemed last a small forever. Once secured in the shade, Jack leaned against his mate and mumbled he need to get some rest before his watch shift. Hiccup loped an arm around him as he moved around so different parts of his body rested on the ice. While Jack settled into a nap, Hiccup found himself going into a mild trance as he stared at the water. Little waves lapped at the edge of the ice, but he could fell the raft rise and fall on subtle but larger swells of water. The dynamics of the seemingly living ocean lulled him. Shortly after Jack began to snore, Hiccup did as well.

“Dammit!” Hiccup suddenly swore, using one of Jack’s favorites, as his body jerked into wakefulness.

Jack roused and opened his eyes. Darkness settled fully over them. The thin, partial ring of moonlight hung in the sky and did not radiate any intelligence. A dome of stars capped the two shipwreck survivors and stretched to the horizon on all sides. They also got reflected, making it difficult to tell the sea from the sky. Neither of the two recognized the constellations, although a few appeared vaguely familiar if they twisted their heads to the side. Then it struck Jack: night surrounded them.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” He asked and stretched his chill cramped body.

“I, ah… sort of fell asleep, too,” Hiccup sheepishly confessed. “Gods, look at how late it is, or early. Whatever. Sunrise is in a couple of hours.”

Jack stood. His butt felt entirely numb, and he did not think it a good sign. His feet slipped across the melted surface of the ice. He made his way carefully to the edge of ice disk. Faint cracking sounds emerged the further from the center he got. Fortunately, the ice did not break. After looking over the edge for a few moments, Jack dropped his pants and started to relieve himself into the ocean. Half a minute later another splashing sound rose into the air. Hiccup availed himself of the same demand. Jack also realized he needed to squat when his guts started to bubble and grumble. He needed to think his way around that process lest he fall into the ocean.

Ten minutes later a completely soaked Earthling and Viking shimmied out of the dark water and back onto the ice. Each found it impossible to maintain their balance on the crumbling edge of the disk and slipped into the water to empty their bowels. Both tried to be hasty since they did not know if any creatures lurked nearby. Both emerged from the sea whole and several ounces lighter. The process left each feeling hungry. Jack could hear Hiccup’s guts rumble from several feet away. His made as much noise. He stood in the middle of the disk and lowered the lean-to so it lay flat. Then he sat and continued to look at the sky. Hiccup joined him.

“Remember when I told you ‘bout the time I went into space to tell how far I could hear Baby Tooth?” Jack asked simply to begin a conversation.

“Yeah. Still can’t quite picture what it would be like,” Hiccup replied.

“Like this, except I could see Earth and all the lights of the cities… except where the clouds were. As long as I didn’t face the sun and stayed in the Earth’s shadow, I could see pretty far out into space. This reminds me of that,” the mortal form of the Guardian exhaled the words as he stared as the cosmos spread out above them. “It was so silent out there… especially when I couldn’t hear Baby Tooth.”

“What did it feel like?” The Viking intoned and leaned against his husband.

“Strange, but I was immaterial. I never went solid. I was sort of afraid to ‘cause I didn’t know what the vacuum of space would do to me… physically that is.”

The Earthling drifted into silence.

“Jack?” Hiccup prodded with the name.

“That was most alone I ever felt,” Jack half-whispered. “The Earth started to look small since I was about eight thousand miles out. No one could see me ‘les they had a telescope and knew exactly where to look. Made me think of all the astronauts who went to the moon… I wonder what Father Moon thought about people walking all over him.”

“Did I ever tell you you lead the weirdest life on Earth?”

For the first time since surviving the typhoon, a small grin crept on Jack’s face. He tilted his head to the side until it touched his husband’s. A small sigh escaped him.

“I love this life just as much,” he stated in a rough voice. “I know right now it feels like it’s all turned to shit, but… you’re here, and we’re together. Even if this is where we die, at least I’m with you in the end.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup mumbled as he considered what Jack really meant in his statements. He bucked up his courage. “Jack, I learned something from you… about you when you died.”

Seconds later Jack nudged him to continue.

“And you proved it again when we fought Chewyface.”

“Proved what?” Hiccup’s mate asked with a touch of annoyance at the lag.

“You’re damn near impossible to kill, even in human form,” Hiccup concluded. “I don’t think this is where we face… Aita. We’re too alive. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but….”

Hiccup looked up into the cloudless sky and billions of stars winking at him.

“They won’t intervene, Hiccup,” Jack flatly stated. “Noro’s done about all she’s going to do. I’m on my own. I honestly don’t how I made this ice raft. I think it happened when I blacked out. Not sure it would happen a second time. This, right here, is too calm… too peaceful. Does that make sense to you?”

“Sort of. Your power doesn’t have any reason to react. That storm… the Miss going down… taking… her… I guess it sort overwhelmed you and brought out your power,” the Viking hypothesized.

“Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing.”

“I don’t want to die, Jack. I want to live with you more… as long as we can,” Hiccup said in a trembling voice. He wiped at his eyes that leaked tears. “This was supposed to be for us… and it turned into a pocking nightmare.”

Regardless of the sadness he continued to feel, Jack twisted his head and kissed Hiccup on the cheek. Hiccup turned his face, and their lips met. Their need for one another erupted into an instant inferno. They pawed at each other’s clothing until they sat naked. Only the starry sky blanketed them as the emotions made raw took hold. The ice disk rocked gently in the water as they grasped a deep and profound comfort in their union of bodies. Their fears and sorrows melted away for a brief time in glow of their love. They became a small world unto themselves.

Neither bothered to dress as they watched the western horizon turn gray and chase the stars into invisibility. The two lay on their lean-to pulled close to each other as the planet turned to once more bring on a new day. In an odd manner Hiccup found it magical. The man he loved most in the world lay naked next to him, and it felt as though it answered their troubles. He hugged Jack tighter. For Jack, the moment became the most mortal he ever felt. Even the day he fell through the ice to save his sister did not quite compare. He seemed aware of everything as he pressed against his husband. Halla rotated and the bluish-yellow glow of the sun crested the horizon. The sky bloomed into the gaudy yellow-green dawn peculiar to Halla.

With the full light of morning, Jack started to inspect the ice disk. He noted how a foot within the entire perimeter turned gray. It meant the ice turned to mush. After warning Hiccup of his intention, he crept on his hands and knees to the one area where he saw deep shadows in the ice the hoped portended more ship debris. When he got within half a foot of the gray ice corona, his left arm went through. Surprisingly he found the ice extended downward to his fingertips. The action, unfortunately, caused a crack to form and a slice of the disk started to drift away. Hiccup witness the process and, in a seeming panic, ran across the disk and jumped into the ocean. He snagged the drifting piece and started hauling back to the raft. Just as he neared the edge, something brushed against his leg.

“Pockers! Jack! Help me up. There’s something down here!” He yelled to his mate.

They scrambled to get him back onto the floe without losing the segment he retrieved. Hiccup looked down at his leg. Whatever rubbed against him abraded his skin. Pinpricks of blood rose to the surface of skin along an eight-inch wide path on the side of his right calf. It stung as the salt worked its way into the abrasion.

“What in Wotan’s name did this?” He asked.

“Not sure, but I saw on television once that people who get bumped by sharks get similar rashes. The skin of sharks can be like sandpaper,” Jack intoned as he bent down look at the area.

They both heard the crack and moved toward the center. Jack got on his hands and knees, carefully crawled to the chunk of raft and dragged it back to the middle. While Hiccup’s leg continued to bleed a little, they worked at freeing the items trapped in the ice. They got two more lengths of plank, six feet of rope, half of one of the hatch covers, and a long strip of five-inch wide canvas. While many might view the collection as the refuse of destroyed ship, Hiccup started to see other purposes to which it could be put. He simply needed time to work it all out.

“Jack, how much longer will the ice last?” He asked while staring at the new items.

“A couple of days at best the way it's already melting,” his husband answered while his eyes survey the ice disk.

“Okay, so we know how long we’ve got. We’ll get more out of the ice today. We can work with this. Might not be the greatest, but… we won’t drown.”

“Good, but how much longer can we go without food. I already feel lightheaded,” Jack informed him.

“There some metal pieces here, Jack. I can fashion a hook or a spearhead… and maybe some sort of knife blade for you,” Hiccup only partially answered his mate’s unspoken question.

“A blade for… what exactly?”

“How about making a short spear and a thrower? If we can get fish to rise…”

“Fly rod.”

“What?” The Viking chirped in confusion.

“It’s a type of fishing rod. You make a light lure in the shape of a fly, and flick back and forth over the surface of the water…”

“And it looks like a fly. Fish will try to grab it. Good thinking.”

“Saw it on a fishing show,” the Earthling admitted.

“Do they put everything on those picture boxes?” Hiccup felt compelled to ask.

“Yeah. I think so, and we didn’t even get to the Internet.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Really? Even if it meant all the knowledge of the world at your fingertips?” Jack presented the concept in a manner he knew would pique Hiccup’s interest, as though he fly fished.

Hiccup’s eyebrows crawled up his forehead, and then he shook his head. When he stopped, Jack just stared at him. A small grimace curled the Viking’s lips before he said: “Will knowing about that help us right now?”

“No, it won’t.”

“Then save it for when we sit around a fire on dry land. We’ve got a day and a half to figure out how to manage that… as well as getting some food. I like the fly fishing idea. It gives us a way to attract the fish.”

Jack nodded, but his eyes traveled to Hiccup’s leg where the small drops of blood coalesced into small streaks. They would need to be careful to keep it out of the water, or else sharks and who knew what else would show up for a feast. He trusted Hiccup would think the same.

“It’ll clot soon enough,” Hiccup stated when he followed Jack’s gaze. “And neither one of us goes into the water at night. Not with whatever that was checking on us. Besides the edges of this ice raft are going bad. We need to stay toward the center like you said. Come on. Help me put the lean-to back up.”

The two men worked quickly and quietly erecting their protection from the sun. Afterward, both found more than enough water to slake their thirst. It proved the hot midworld weather took its toll on the one thing keeping them alive. Sooner rather than later they would need to trade fresh water for a craft that would not melt. Once that moment arrived, both knew their reaming time became limited. Without water, they could only last three days at the most. Since they floated in the middle of an ocean, it made their future seem short. Neither spoke of it, but both men thought it.


	7. Chapter 7

Throughout the day they traded off sleeping in the shade while the other kept an eye on the ice float as it gradually melted and pieces broke off. They weighted one end of the rope to snag and haul whatever floated free back to their frozen island. They used some of the new pieces of wood on the surface of the ice, and it felt good not sitting on a chilled rump. Hiccup managed to fashion a crude blade out a scrap of metal, part of a hinge, for Jack. Jack then spent some of his shade time whittling a piece of wood into two pieces: one to act as a spear rod, and the other into spear launcher. He fashioned the tail end of the spear rod into a knob so they could tied a piece of rope around it. When Hiccup woke from his nap, he examined the pieces, both near completion.

“Right. Rule one: if you have to get ship wrecked, have a wood worker with you,” he said as a compliment. “You won’t even have to teach me how to use it. I can tell just by looking at the pieces.”

“Some of the oldest technology known to man, and I’m fairly certain a set-up like this is still in use somewhere on Halla,” Jack responded. Then he jerked his head to the side. “I think part of the raft is getting ready to break off over there. Mind if I curl up for a while.”

“Go ahead. I’m hungry, but I feel pretty good right now,” Hiccup told him and gave the entire lean-to to his husband.

Hiccup rose and stretched. By the look of the ice floe, they lost roughly a third since they woke after the storm. Jack’s estimation of when it would entirely melt seemed generous. The Viking started to gingerly walk the perimeter and avoided any spots gray in color. He spied more pieces of wood and other debris sticking out into the water. They would need all they could harvest from their current craft. He went to one of the safer edges to urinate while his mind attempted to piece together some sort of vessel from what little they collected.

Jack heard the water splash. He lay with his eyes closed and tried to push back the darkness of his thoughts. He focused instead on Hiccup’s endless supply of optimism. He needed it to combat his feelings of loss and the vague sense he lead IceSpike to her death. Jack tried to use logic to remind himself he could not predict the weather, let alone when two immortals would decide to stage a lethal battle in their vicinity. A series of coincidences conspired to extract the most harm from him, but not one single entity planned it. The sorrow gnawing at him struggled against logic. He lost his dragon. He lost her because he dragged IceSpike along on a foolish desire for a honeymoon. His brain felt torn between the two extremes. Between the competing factions, Jack slipped through a crack and into slumber.

Hiccup busied him with making bets with himself when one bit or another would break free. He lost each one, but periodically some of the wreckage sprang free. He used the weighted rope to drag it to the ice raft. In the back of his mind he kept a mental tally. For each piece that came from the ice, it meant the sheet would melt that much faster. Too much time at the forge and with smelters instructed Hiccup on the fine principles of what happens when heat meets a larger surface area. Sometimes he took a break to get a drink. Although Jack might call it a waste, he tore off a strip of canvas to bandage his leg. He considered using some of his clothing, but Jack used it as a pillow. The two men never dressed since the day before when they made love. It seemed a pointless act of modesty.

The Viking frequently checked on the Earthling. Although Jack tried to hide it, Hiccup could see the edge of depression in his mate’s features. The loss of IceSpike hit the man hard. On top of how much he adored and loved the winged creature, IceSpike also returned Jack to the sky. Hiccup could not stop recalling the manner in which Snotlout slipped away from them into alcoholism day after day, week by week, following the death of Hookfang. Perhaps being stranded on a shrinking craft worked in Jack’s favor since he could not lay his hands on strong drink. It all seemed a cruel joke to the dragon rider.

Four hours after laying down, Jack woke with a start. He dreamed he heard IceSpike’s pitiful cries. It continued to echo in the man’s ears as he gathered his wits. A gentle hand ran down his back. Hiccup sat hunched in the shade of the lean-to. A quick glance showed the man managed to move it without waking him. Hiccup’s consideration for his welfare acted as a balm. He leaned back into the hand caressing his shoulder. Shortly thereafter a pair of lips got pressed against his neck.

“You slept pretty good,” Hiccup told him. “How do you feel?”

“Hungry. Rested, but hungry,” Jack told him. “Did anything else pop free from the ice?”

“A few more boards. I think one piece was part of the tiller. Got more canvas. We’re going to need that as a lashing when we start to make the raft,” he related.

“Got a plan?”

“Mostly ideas, but something will work. It just comes down to what else we get from the ice.”

Jack twisted his head around. He got to witness Hiccup’s thinking face, and the sight buoyed him. Hiccup caught him staring and grinned. Jack leaned further back and puckered his lips. He got rewarded with a proper kiss.

“Feeling better?” The Viking asked, but he did not mean in the way he first inquired.

“It’ll take time. It hurts. I feel responsible,” Jack truthfully replied and his eyebrows drew together.

“You’re not, but I understand why you feel that way. Just remember you’re not going through this alone. I miss her, too.”

The two men regarded one another. For two seconds Jack let himself irrationally believe that of all the planes in the multiverse, he got lucky in finding one with the right kind of planet capable of sustaining life and evolving the one man who could bring him comfort in such a terrible circumstances. Hiccup’s green eyes looked like worlds unto themselves.

“Want to try some fishing? I made a small pole and a lure for the line I made yesterday,” Hiccup prompted him.

“Yeah. Maybe we’ll get truly lucky and get some dinner,” Jack replied.

“Not for a couple of hours at least. Fish won’t start to rise ‘til sunset, but we can practice.”

And they did. Jack displayed a natural ability with fly rod, and he attributed it to over three centuries of playing with a magical crook. Hiccup took control of the spear and launcher. For over an hour he refined his technique. Although not a precision shot, he showed enough aptitude to at least get the spear to land close to his target. After over an hour, Jack began to worry the would seriously burn, so he suggested they rest in the shade. Hiccup reluctantly agreed. They moved the lean-to so it offered more protection, and then sat under it. The two men stared at the wide ocean in silence. It looked endless.

“Um, Hiccup, do you think that could be trouble?” Jack asked a short while later and pointed outward. They currently faced in a southwesterly direction.

“What is that?” Hiccup asked and slowly got to his feet.

Jack joined him. In the distance they could see what looked like a gray hump. It did not move fast and, in fact, seemed almost stationary. As the ice floe rotated on the current and aimed them westward, the two turned to keep an eye on the object. The sun dropped closer to the horizon, but their attention remained fixed. Following a quarter of an hour of concentrated staring, Jack started to slap at Hiccup’s arm.

“What?” His mate said in annoyance.

“Grab a board and move to safe part of the edge,” Jack ordered. “We need to start paddling.”

“Did you figure out what that is? Do we need to get away from it?”

“No, Hiccup, I think that’s a boat.”

Hiccup twisted his head to the side to stare at his husband, but Jack’s eyes remained fixed on the distant object. They learned long ago Jack possessed better eyesight than the Viking; thus, Hiccup felt obliged to believe the man. He snatched another quick glimpse at the heat-blurred image. Jack pushed at him once while stooping to grab a piece of board. He walked cautiously toward the northwest edge, poking at the ice the entire time. As soon as it punch through, Jack chopped at it until he met resistance. Hiccup repeated his mate’s actions. The Earthling seemed entirely too certain about what he saw. It took a minute of knocking away the soft ice before finding a solid surface. Then Hiccup positioned himself. He craned his head around.

“Jack?” He called out.

“Start paddling. You need to paddle more than me so we meet it head on. We’re too south of the boat,” Jack instructed.

Hence, Earthling and Viking began treating the ice floe like a canoe. It took a lot of effort to get the mass to start moving, and their already weakened condition did not help matters. However, their frozen raft did begin to float in the desired direction. Each man ignore the complaints from muscles that demanded sustenance. Even though they felt laggard, the two applied themselves. Like some ancient sea beast the floe moved closer to the object. The sun touched the horizon, but the men did not stop as much as they wanted to fall into exhausted heaps. After nearly an hour and with twilight settling over them, a boat clearly drifted on the tides. They worked all the harder despite the agony the effort induced. Stars began to appear overhead. Twilight remained bright enough to obscure the minuscule sliver of the moon. Still, the Berkians paddled with all their dwindling might.

“Can you get it?” Hiccup panted and dropped to his knees.

Jack staggered forward, using the makeshift paddle as a cane to test the ice, and edge his way closer to where the boat bumped against the frozen raft. Fear it might drift back out to sea added urgency, but the camouflaged Guardian did not trust the ice. He stepped gingerly with each foot. With weary arms he lifted his paddle into the air, and then lowered it as carefully as he could. It clattered against the side wall, but it kept the craft in place.

“Hiccup, get the rope. Hurry!” Jack pleaded.

Minutes later the weighted end of the rope landed in boat. Both men felt tremendous relief. They looked at the boat, a larger skiff than they ever saw or constructed on Berk, and wonder from whence it came. Jack formulated a fast guess that since it came from the west the boat probably survived the storm. He turned to Hiccup to say what he thought, and then they heard a strange noise.

“Jack, back away… slowly,” Hiccup commanded and lifted the piece of wood in his grasp.

The Earthling did not. He paused and cocked his head toward the craft and waited. Hiccup cautiously advanced with the paddle turned bludgeon raised to his shoulder like a batter approaching home plate. He also stopped when he got near Jack. After ten seconds, they heard the sound again. Hiccup raised weapon, but Jack sprung into action.

“What are you doing?” The Viking angrily inquired as his mate scrambled up the sidewall of the boat that rose to the same level as the Jack’s chest.

“Don’t be dolt, Hiccup. Didn’t you recognize that?” Jack countered-queried and sound just as angry.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes.

“Gods, Hiccup it’s a ba-a-a…” the Guardian in mortal flesh said, but his final word got cut off when he slid over the narrow gunwale. Seconds later he groaned: “Oh, gods!”

Hiccup raced as carefully as he could to the boat. Being taller gave him an advantage and he peered over the edge. What caused Jack’s dismay became obvious. A man and a boy, perhaps five years of age, lay dead propped against the stern of the small vessel. The blisters on their skin, skin once a brown color like Kenna’s but now mottled with putrification, attested to the length of time they got exposed to the sun. Eyes shrunken and white stared blankly at the sky. Both wore their long, fine black hair tied in an intricate knot at the back of their heads. However, the bloated condition of their bodies almost removed the resemblance to human beings.

Then the sound rattled out, and Hiccup recognized it for the source.

“Jack, that’s a baby!” The man outside the boat exclaimed.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you!”

Jack moved closer to the prow. A heavy fabric like canvas covered over a third of it. It seemed the dead males constructed a form of tent. With careful steps so as not to set the craft to rocking, Jack approached. He grabbed the nearest edge of the material and lifted it. A stuttering gasp flew out of his mouth. He threw material toward the front and then stopped. His eyes did not blink as he stared downward.

“Jack?” Hiccup nervously asked.

“It’s more than one child… and the mother, but… I don’t know if she is alive,” Jack related. “Hold the boat while I climb out. We need to drag it onto the ice.”

Although he thought the idea a bit daft, Hiccup complied without saying anything. Jack climbed out with more grace than with which he climbed in. Once on the outside, the grabbed the prow by one of the rails. Hiccup manned the other. They began to pull and lift. Muscles already sore from paddling the ice floe howled in protest, but the heavy, sturdy boat began to slide onto the ice. They heard cracking and grumbling from their raft. Hiccup eyed his husband, but Jack applied himself with as much strength as he could muster. It took ten minutes of concentrated hauling and lifting before the two men managed to land the craft on the floe.

“Jack, you know this is destroying the ice,” Hiccup panted as he lowered himself to the cold surface.

“We’ve got a boat,” Jack replied as he leaned against side of it. “And… at least one infant.”

“And two, maybe three or four corpses.”

The Earthling frowned and said: “I’m going back in to investigate. Get ready for when I hand the baby out.”

He did not wait for an answer and forced his sluggish, woozy body into action. Twilight would not last and the moon all but disappeared into its new phase. Stars already littered the sky and reflected against the undulating ocean, making it difficult to find the horizon. Jack crawled into the boat. The bodies at the back slumped against the side leaning against the ice. He crawled in and noted the various bits of detritus. His sharp eyes also picked out some rather salient and interesting items. However, the lowing cooing drew his attention. Jack went back to the front. To his surprise, the woman opened her eyes and stared at him. He gaze seemed unfocused, and he saw her lips moving. She held the two children against her naked chest. Once child seemed to perish while suckling, and the other weakly squirmed against the almost flattened breast. Jack approached with great care.

“We’re going to help,” he said to the woman.

Her head only twitched, and her lips moved again. Jack stooped and crawled under what he surmized to be a makeshift tent meant to protect the children. He assumed the man and boy to be her husband and son. Apparently they sacrificed themselves for the sake of the mother and children. Jack found it very noble, but other duties called to him at the moment. When he reached the trio under the tarpaulin, he reached out for the infant. The woman’s head turned.

“Biva,” she said in a barely audible voice. “Biva.”

“Biva,” Jack repeated when her unmoving eyes fixed on him.

Her head turned toward the other, older child and said: “Hasna.”

“Hasna,” he repeated.

The body of the child jerked in response to it’s name, and then made a soft crying sound.

“Hasna. Biva. Hasna. Biva,” the woman repeated what sounded like their names over and over.

“Hasna, Biva,” Jack recited as he reached down for the infant. “Hiccup, get ready.”

He grabbed the babe, older than he first imagine and guessed the child to about a year in age, and lifted. The child felt too light in his grip, and it barely put up a fight. He carefully stood and looked over the rail at his husband who appeared very anxious. Jack held out the child. Hiccup reached and took it from him.

“This one is Biva,” the Earthling said and felt the name buzz in his head. “Very weak, so don’t set the child on the ice.”

“I’m not completely sun stupid, Jack,” Hiccup growled in irritation. “And I’ll even try to give it some water.”

Jack winced at the reproof, and added: “Don’t leave yet: there’s a second one… also alive.”

Hiccup’s eyes went wide. Jack disappeared into the boat. The Viking glanced down at the baby. It’s arms and legs hung limply from the body, but they did move. A raspy half-whisper came from the mouth. He did not think the prospects for the child too good given its condition, but he felt the urge to try and help. Hiccup guessed the urge must be tenfold, if not a hundredfold, stronger in Jack. Half a minute later Jack’s head popped up and he held out a second and larger child. Hiccup cradled the infant in one arm and accepted the other. Both felt incredibly weightless to him. He backed away from the boat toward the center and lean-to. The first thought came in trying to get the two to drink some water freely pooled on the ice floe.

Jack went back to the woman. He believed he could lift her out himself. She looked small and shriveled. Her lips, cracked and dry, continued to move and only a vague hiss emerged. The Guardian bent his head down to her mouth.

“Hasna… Biva,” the woman said as though saying the names seemed the most she could do.

It only took a cursory look at the woman to realize Jack could do nothing to save her. She gave her all to keep the children alive. The bright yellow gown, more like a long wrap of material, edged in light blue, bore stains of sweat and other substances. The black hair, once sleek, looked oily and matted. The cheeks sank inward. Dull eyes stared forward. Jack sat down next to her and took her hand. She did not appear to even notice. Her fingers barely twitched.

“Hasna and Biva,” Jack said their names in as gentle a tone as he could, “are still alive. We’ll do everything we can to keep them alive. You are a valiant mother and worthy of all praises.”

The dark brown lips moved, and Jack saw her trying to form the only two words she could say. He carefully squeezed her hand. Her head moved a little and the fingers curled a small amount. Jack stroked the appendage with one hand. The skin felt like thin parchment. She clearly dehydrated her body attempting to keep her children fed. Although the hand in his jerked a few times, the rest of her body did not move. The Guardian knew her incapable of such action. The woman’s right arm remained crooked as if she still held her youngest child. It seemed locked in place. Despite the pathos of her countenance, he saw a noble aspect in how far she would go to protect her children. Jack again squeezed her hand. He would stay with her until the very end.

“Jack?” Hiccup quietly said his name and the single word nearly asked too many question.

“She’s not going to make it, Hiccup,” he told his husband. “I’m… going to stay with her.”

“Yeah, alright. I’ll look after the little ones.”

Hiccup backed away from the boat and returned to where he sat the children. For twenty minutes he scooped up handfuls of water and fed it to the all but immobile children. Once each tasted it, each accepted as much as he could provide. Pools of fresh water lay within easy arm’s reach, and Hiccup never once thought to tend to his own thirst as he cared for the clearly dehydrated children. Once he resumed a sitting position, Hiccup lay the smaller child in his lap and held the older one in his arms. He continued to feed water to the child after he let it warm in his hand. Bit by bit the child became more animated in the same way the infant revived after drinking down what the dragon rider estimated to be a full adult-sized cup amount. The older sibling seemed more than ready to exceed that capacity. Thus, Hiccup occupied himself while Jack carried out a duty of equal to but far sadder in importance. He did not envy his husband the task.

Little by little the woman’s words faded and became less coherent. Jack never released her hand while he considered that she probably said the names of her children to keep them calm. It seemed to become all her mind could do as she struggled to stay alive. Whether she knew it or not, the woman bought more life for her children with her own. As such, she deserved the presence of one person to be at her side and mark her final moments on Halla. For another half an hour Jack waited while the woman’s voice disappeared and she became completely still.

Jack pressed his finger to her thin wrist and waited a for a full minute. He could detect no heartbeat. Then, on the far edges of his hearing, he heard the call of Aita. Jack watched her face. Nothing seemed to change, but he could tell life fled her. She no longer drew even a feeble breath, and a stillness no living body could assume settled over her form. Jack bent his head and kissed her hand while tears leaked from his eyes. He hoped she somehow knew she did not die alone. He kissed her hand again. Then the Guardian looked to the side into the inky darkness of the new night and the bright points of lights. He could not see the fluttering, pale remains of her life as she sought the void of eternity.

“Be gentle with this one, Aita,” he said to the air. “She suffered enough.”

Jack did not expect an answer, and it came as no surprise when the song of The Breathless One faded into nothing. With that confirmation in hand, he reached out and gingerly closed her eyes. The he lay the thin arm in her lap. She reminded him of a people he knew on Earth, most of who never got to enjoy his gifts. They worshiped a myriad of interesting gods in one of the oldest cultures on his home planet. Jack liked their music because it sounded like nothing else he ever heard. He then stood, looked one final time at the empty shell of the woman, and carefully exited the boat.

As he neared their small spot on the ice, Jack adjusted eyesight marveled at what he saw and it acted as a balm for the renewed sorrow in his chest. Hiccup sat cross-legged on the wood flooring. A babe slept in his lap, and Jack could see it slept, while his mate continued to give water to the now squirming toddler. The Viking glanced up at him.

“How did they make it?” He asked the Guardian who, for a brief moment, felt like one again.

“This planet breeds remarkably tough people,” Jack replied in a thoughtful tone. “You’re all rather amazing.”

Hiccup looked up and saw the sadness etched on his mate’s face. That Jack could sit with a dying woman so soon after loosing his dragon to the typhoon astounded him. It reminded him anew of the depth of strength in the thin man who gave up so much to be with him. Then the wriggling mass of child, enlivened by the copious amounts of water, demanded his attention.

“That one is named Hasna,” Jack told him, and the child paused and looked at him. “The one in your lap is Biva. Their names were the last words on the lips of their mother.”

Hiccup nodded in acknowledgment. They stared into each others eyes in the dark. Starlight reflected in the orbs. In the meanwhile, the one called Hasna fidgeted even more. Hiccup resumed feeding the child water.

“We need to keep them alive, Hiccup,” Jack said with more determination than he thought he could raise.

The Viking heard a very particular quality in the Earthling’s voice and replied: “I know, but… we’re not doing too good for ourselves.”

“But we have a boat now.”

“We do, but… this one we’re on right now provides us water.”

“And it won’t be stable by this time tomorrow. It’s lost over a third of it’s original size, and it’ll start breaking up soon,” Jack reminded his husband.

“Then what? Do we just set out in the boat? Which direction do we go in?” Hiccup queried, not in an argumentative or defensive manner, but in one tone that revealed the depth of his worry.

“South.”

The one tending the children at the moment stared at the other adult. Jack completed the transit to their lean-to. Without a word he reached out and took the infant from Hiccup’s lap. He cradled the child with an ease Hiccup found surprising until he remember what lay under the skin of the man he loved. Jack leaned his head down and listened to the babe breathe. He needed to hear life. The child fitfully slept, and that meant Hiccup gave Biva a considerable amount of water.

“We go south,” he continued, “’cause I think we drifted over midworld. We’re closer to whatever lands are there than we are to the northern islands. It’s our best shot.”

“Makes sense,” Hiccup agreed.

“And we got a better chance at steering the boat then we do this chunk of ice.”

“Also make sense, but how are we going to figure out where we’re going?”

“Keep the sun to our right in the morning and to our left in the evening.”

The Viking nodded. It all made good simple sense, except their situation could not be called simple. Neither of them knew the seas this far south and neither did either possess any concrete notion about where the could find land. In his days as Isemaler, Jack said he flew over vast stretches of green and desert to reach the southern polar regions that extended northward about a third of the way to equator as did the southern reach of the northern polar climate. Jack knew the winters below a certain southern latitudes could be just as harsh as what the Berkians regularly experiences. Lord of Winter plied his trade with equal might on both hemisphere’s of Halla.

“We’ll see if we can get fish or something from the ocean once we get going,” Jack continued as he glanced around their dwindling island of ice.

“In the morning we’re going to have to… clean out the boat,” Hiccup reminded him.

Jack nodded at the grim prospect of removing three corpses, two of which appeared in unstable condition. He watched the children and wondered what effect it produce in them when the saw the bodies of their family members slide into the sea. It set his brain to work at a feverish pitch. Lethargy began to steal over him.

“I’m tired,” he said to no one in particular.

“So am I,” Hiccup rejoined. “Get some sleep. You earned it. It’ll take care of this one.”

A wan smiled of thanks played across the Earthling’s mouth. Without even thinking of what he did, Jack lay on his side and curled around the infant who never woke during the process. Jack listened to the sound of the babe’s breathing as he closed his eyes. Hiccup watched his husband try to fall into a slumber. No one need tell him his his mate heard the call of The Breathless One as the woman, mother of the children, passed from life. Grief seemed to compound around the man. The Viking worried about the long-range impact it would impose on Jack. Then again, he thought, no one ever guaranteed the Guardian his mortal life on a planet far less technologically advanced than his own would be easy. Hiccup wondered if Jack began to appreciate why Halla bred such hardy people. While they did not live with the self-imposed terror the likes the Earthlings undertook, Halla still proved demanding, relentless, and unforgiving in her own manner. It seemed Elada and Noro shared that in common.

“Okay, Hasna, we need to be quiet now so we can sleep,” he said to the child who stared at him and looked frightened.

Hiccup began to rock the toddler and started singing a song he recalled his father sang to him, one he sang to Jack over a dozen years before, and tried to keep his voice steady.

"The ship sails into empty bay, where longing hearts await," he sang to the child in a quiet voice. "The sun brings another day, casts light upon the fates. By axe and shield, sword and spear, to see who rides the deck, and lays to rest a hidden fear…of terrible heartbreak."

Never before did Hiccup understand what it would be like to be the one whom the song eulogized. He knew all about standing on a dock waiting in suppressed terror his father would not return from the hunt for the homeland of the dragons or waging war against those who threatened Berk. He witnessed time and again the heartbreak of those who loved ones never returned, or came back riding on their shields. The Viking lost track of the days since the Island Miss sank in the storm, but he calculated they spent perhaps little more than three weeks at sea. Within two months, his people would begin to wonder why he and Jack did not return. Then, on a night when the Berkians accepted neither man would return, someone would lead the entire island in the song. A vision of his mother singing with the rest, head held high and perhaps only one or two tears shed while she accepted the fate of her son and his husband. Hiccup skipped ahead in the song to the parts of those who found relief as those who returned home alive.

Jack drifted into sleep on the strains of his husbands song. He never learned it, but he understood the meaning. As consciousness slipped from him, he vowed to defy the lyrics.

Bright hot light helped wake Jack, along with the kick and yowls of a near-toddler. Biva’s little hand slapped him in the face several times. The commotion and sunshine made him feel better after a night of dark, dreamless sleep. He sat up and scooped Biva into his arm. Around him several fish flopped on the ice, their mouths gaping against the air instead of water. The sight astounded Jack. He stood. To one side of the much diminished ice floe Hiccup stood fishing, and still did not wear a stitch of clothing. Jack realized he also remained naked. Hasna pulled against the rope with which Hiccup tied the child to himself. The man flicked the fishing line back and forth across the surface of the water, enticing the fish to snap at it.

“We’ll have full bellies this day,” Jack whispered to the lean dark face of the child in his arm.

Biva gazed at him and stopped struggling for a moment. Jack smiled, and a piece of a life that seemed ages ago sparked in his breast. The small brown face intrigued him. He then walked around the lean-too. As he approached his mate, Hasna stared at him in fright, and then ran to Hiccup. The toddler locked arms around the bare man’s legs.

“I told you, Hasna: you can’t jump in the water. You’re not bait,” Hiccup grumbled as he reeled in the line.

“I don’t think that’s what Hasna is worried about,” Jack replied and lowered himself into a crouch. He aimed Biva’s head toward the man and child standing on the dangerous edge of the ice. “See? You’re not alone.”

The children looked at one another, and Hiccup saw a flash of recognition on Hasna face. The child let go of his leg and walked toward Jack. It dawned on the Viking he could not tell the gender of either child. However, something about Hasna indicated female. From his actions that morning, he noticed a similarity between her and the woman he removed from the boat. The way Hasna stared at the thin babe in Jack’s arms told him she recognized her own sibling.

“Hasna is a girl,” Hiccup spoke aloud his thinking.

“Because…?” Jack prompted.

“Well, she squatted over there to pee, and the way she did it looked like a woman taught her.”

Jack reached down and lifted up the wet wrapping of the child in his arms. He got direct confirmation of the gender and further notice he needed to clean out the boy’s clothing. The man smirked at the child.

“Boy here, and he’s in need of cleaning before anything else,” Jack stated. “And thanks for the fish, my husband.”

“Yeah, we needed to eat and you’re terrible at fishing,” Hiccup rejoined. “Besides, I found some equipment in the boat they never used.”

For the first time Jack noticed his mate used an actual fishing pole instead of the one he crafted. He turned and examined the boat from a distance. It lay further on its side. The Guardian noticed a discernible lack of dead bodies. Moreover, a stack of equipment and strange containers sat nearer the interior of the ice raft. It dawned on Jack his mate spent an industrious morning while he slept. A small wave of guilt washed through him.

“Hiccup, why didn’t you wake me to help you?” He asked in a rumble.

“’Cause both you and Biva were sound asleep. Hasna woke me up this morning when she needed to relieve herself,” Hiccup answered.

“I think Biva did that in his sleep.”

“Probably, but after what you did last night… I figured it was only fair to let you rest,” the man told his brown-haired brown-eyed husband.

“So, how did you… remove…” Jack hesitantly asked since he did not know how much Hasna could understand. He turned to face the boat again.

Hiccup finished reeling in his line and walked toward Jack. Hasna, still tied to him, followed along. While the man knew some might complain about lashing the child to himself, he knew it kept her safe from falling into the ocean and who knew what lurked around the ice floe. The scab developing on his leg reminded him of his last plunge into the water. He went to stand next to Jack while Hasna wanted to poke at the fish lying on the ice.

“Pulled out everything that looked useful, and then rocked the boat into it’s side. After that, I just lifted on the keel until what was left fell into the water.”

Jack gazed in appreciation at the man who spared him an awful task. Biva squirmed in his arms and cried out a bit. The boy needed tending.

“And things got a little better when I found this fishing rod and reel. Plus, that boat can be rigged like a sail boat. I don’t think the people in it understood what it could do,” the Viking said in a soft voice without a single hint of condemnation regarding the dead passengers.

A real sense of hope, small but real, alighted in the Earthling’s chest. For the first time since the Island Miss went to her doom, it seemed the prospects for their survival improved. Moreover, the chances they could actually save the children also appeared realistic.

“Okay, I’ve got to get this one tidied up, and then how about some fish before we head out?” Jack stated and inquired.

“Sounds good. I think I figured out way to bring water with us,” Hiccup rejoined, “but go take care of him first.”

Jack took Biva as close to the edge of the ice floe as he dared. He pulled a scrap of wood from the ice and laid the child down on it. Biva thrashed his arms and legs while the man untwisted the soiled garment from around the boy. It became apparent the child lingered in his own waste for a long period of time. Puffy, reddened skin along the inner legs and crotch got exposed. Some parts looked blistered. The Guardian took the dirty wrap to the water where he did his best to wash it clean. Several days worth of small feces, both liquid and solid, polluted the water. The following current carried it away. Jack then used handfuls of warm ocean water to cleanse the child. The salt water stung, and the boy began to cry. Several times Jack lowered his head and whispered to Biva who, after a few moments, would calm.

Hiccup did not need to feel Jack’s power to know some of it leaked to surface as he watched him tend to Biva. Hasna pulled at the rope while she continued her investigations of the fish. Sometimes she twisted her head around to gaze at her crying brother. It seemed an odd sight to Hiccup to see a mortal Jack Frost with skin a mix of pink, tan, and white look after the small child with brown skin, black hair, and dark eyes. However, the man exuded a palpable sense seeing to the needs of the child fulfilled something quintessential in the Earthling. Hiccup thought it time and again: Jack could disguise the Guardian with living flesh, but the Guardian in him could not be contained. Over the past two and half years while the two men repaired their relationship, the Viking embraced without reservation that Jack would always be what lay beneath the surface. That he got to watch it in action on a very human and intimate level made his heart thrum.

“There. Better?” Jack asked the child who quieted but continued to fidget against discomfort in his diaper. “We’ll have fish oil soon. You won’t smell the best, but it’ll help.”

A small hand reached up and tugged at Jack’s lower lip. Jack chuckled in response. Then his nature took over, and he blew a loud raspberry on the boy’s exposed stomach. Biva squealed in delight. The Guardian did it again, and got the same result. With that he scooped up the giggling child and headed toward the others.

“It’s not fair, you know?” Hiccup said when he returned to his mate and the toddler.

“What isn’t?” The Earthling quipped.

“All that… magic in you just… oozes out of you. The children can’t explain it, but Groanhilde, Fishlegs, and me see it all the time. They just know, Jack, what you are.”

“Can’t help being what I am.”

“I know,” and sloppy grin played along Hiccup’s face. The man turned and looked at Hasna who would not leave the slowly dying fish alone. “Hasna, give them some peace!”

Hasna’s head pivoted wildly and she stared at Hiccup who said her name.

“We need to eat. My head feels like fluff,” the Viking intoned, got up, and went to where girl toyed with the sea creature.

Hasna scuttled away as Hiccup approached the fish. She stared at him. Then he heard Jack snickering in the background. The Viking craned his head around to throw a faux look of annoyance at him, and Jack started shaking his head.

“You do realize neither one of us is wearing a stitch of clothing?” Jack chuckled out the word.

“Does it matter? They don’t seem to care,” Hiccup replied, but his cheeks turned rosy.

“Maybe we should at least put some pants on?”

“You can if you want, but I’m fine. Until either of them complain, I’m staying just like this.”

Jack got taken aback a little by his husband’s suddenly brazen attitude. Since the first morning after the storm they divested themselves of their clothing since it tended to freeze to the ice before they collected enough wood to use as a platform. After that point, neither saw the need in getting dressed as they saw no other people, and they stayed cooler without the clothing. After pondering Hiccup’s answer, Jack shrugged. He carried Biva as he went in search of their garments. He found them floating in a puddle of water. After snagging them, and trying to wring them out, the Earthling did not feel inclined to put the ice-cold material against his sun-ruddy skin. He took the clothing over to the boat and spread them out on the slim gunwale to dry. Then he turned his attention to the pile of items Hiccup stacked to the side.

Hiccup turned his attention to the fish while his mate wandered about what remained of the ice floe. He took hold of a piece of wood and clobbered a fish on the head until it simply curled into a half-circle. Hasna studied his actions and walked a little closer. She lifted one foot and then the other while standing on the ice. The discrepancy between the air and the surface of the raft appeared to confuse her. However, the girl watched Hiccup as he used a scrap of metal to cut through the fish’s head and spine. After scaling the fish, he placed it on the board he used to knock it senseless. From there he gutted the fish.

“Save some of the fat. I need it to oil Biva’s diaper rash,” Jack called out from where he squatted, holding the child in one arm, as he examined the goods from the boat.

Hiccup dutifully did as requested and put a blob of fat to the side while he gutted the fish. He pretended he did not see Hasna who walked closer and closer to him. The Viking skillfully skinned the fist. Pink flesh rested beneath the skin, and Hiccup felt himself begin to drool. He hacked off of a piece and popped it into his mouth. A light, almost delicate and sweet flavor coursed over his tongue. His stomach growled loudly in want of more. Hiccup let his eyes twitch upward. Hasna’s dark eyes nearly bore holes in the fish. The man removed another piece from the fish and held it out. Ten seconds later Hasna snatched it from his hand. She shoveled it into her face. Then her small hand reached for more.

“Wait for others,” Hiccup told her and blocked her progress.

For the first time she let lose with a series of sounds, most likely words, and seemed angry. Hiccup gazed her. Her eyes met his and smoldered. He smiled.

“I know. I’m hungry too,” he said to her.

Hasna scowled.

“Jack! Come and get some food before we lose it to Hasna!”

The girl startled when she heard her name.

Moments later Jack and Biva joined them. Hiccup began sawing off chunks of fish and handing it to each person in order. Jack lightly masticated a piece and held it to Biva’s mouth. The boy sucked it up and began gnawing on it. Seconds later the child’s lips parted for another piece. The Earthling repeated the process. His husband watched in amazement. He knew Jack to be a Guardian and protector of children, but the man never displayed any real paternal instincts other than his overwhelming need to frolic with the kids. Yet there he sat and expertly fed the boy. In the meanwhile Hiccup just handed bits of fish to Hasna who ate it just as fast as he could give it to her. The Viking began to wonder if the four fish he managed to land would be enough for them. Regardless, the feel of eating again brought him more simple contentment than he ever thought it could or would.


	8. Chapter 8

The evening wind picked up as the small boat coasted along. The foursome departed from the ice floe that lost over half it’s mass at midday. They collected as much material as they thought they would need from the ice raft. To their dismay they discovered a cache of dried food the previous occupants never used. Hiccup speculated the family probably did not know about life at sea. They found collapsible oilcloth sacks they filled with as much water as they could. The Viking used his and Jack’s shirt to sling chunks of ice under the prow. Both finally put on their pants. Hasna pestered Hiccup the entire time and seemed to delight in making him frown. Biva lay in the boat next to Jack, often is the man’s arms, and slept off the quantity of fish he ate. They got further proof the family did not understand the boat at the start of their journey when Hiccup raised a triangular sail on mast they assembled from cleverly contrived pieces. Moreover, they discovered another pole and piece of canvas that created a tent over them. Both men fully appreciated the ingenuity of the people who built the small craft.

“I tied off the tiller,” Hiccup said as he ducked under the tenting. “We’ll head south… more or less.”

“Better eat the last of the fish before Hasna gets her hands on it. She already ate her fill, but I think she really likes it,” Jack commented from his spot on the floor where he sat propped against sidewall and cradled the boy in his arms.

“Jack, sooner or later you’re going to have to let go of him before you smoother him,” the Viking lightly chided his mate as he took a seat on the rear bench since Hasna occupied the one near the prow.

“I don’t know, Hiccup, after seeing what his mother did to keep him alive… and then watching her… well, die, it scares me when I can’t see him or feel him or hear him. I always know where Hasna is…”

“Trying to get under my skin,” Hiccup said through a grin. “Jack, Biva’s had water, you fed him more than I think he wanted to eat, and he’s cleaned and oiled…”

“He’s not a motor, Hiccup.”

“Maybe not – whatever that is – but you need to take care of yourself, too. You didn’t eat enough.”

“I’m full.”

“Jack!”

Jack looked down at the babe. All throughout the previous day and night and morning as he cared for the infant, a strange fear began to build in his gut. He made a promise to their dying mother to look after her children, and a Guardian always fulfilled a promised or died trying to keep it. Hiccup appeared to have a good hand with the girl, so he focused on the most vulnerable of the four. Try as he might, he could not set the boy down.

“I gave them my word,” he whispered to the child in his arms.

“If you starve to death, you won’t be able to keep it,” Hiccup warned him. Then he reached out, massaged the somewhat bony shoulder, and ran his hand down the back. Jack leaned into it. “Don’t let Guardian in you do foolish things for the right reasons. You’re too smart for that.”

Jack nodded.

Hiccup kept rubbing his back while he said: “And I need to say one other thing. There’s another child who could use some of that Jack Frost magic. She’s pretty hardy, but I think Hasna is confused and frightened by what’s going on. Biva won’t notice if you put him down for a while while he sleeps.”

The comments stung Jack, and mostly because Hiccup indirectly told him he favored one child over another. His inner hackles got raised, but not at his husband. The man spoke the truth. Thus, Jack slowly set Biva down on the wooden slats making up the floor of the boat. He glanced at Hiccup, and Hiccup gave a slow bob of his head. The Earthling crawled on his hands and knees toward the toddler who clutched at the seat in the front of the boat. She warily eyed him as he approached. The man stopped when he got within arm’s reach and sat.

“Now this is funny,” Jack said to her even though he knew Hasna did not understand the words.

He raised his bare right arm and bent it a little. With his left hand he licked his fingertips. Then he wiped the spit in the elbow crease. All the while Hasna kept her dark eyes glued to him without blinking. Once prepared, Jack nestled his face in the crook of his arm. Then he forcibly exhaled through his mouth. A loud flatus sound erupted in the small craft. Hasna’s eyes grew wide in the dim light under the canopy. Jack did it again, and her face broke into a small smile.

“Disgusting, but effective,” Hiccup rumbled from his spot.

“Who doesn’t like a good fart joke?” Jack remarked.

“Gods, you really are twelve years-old inside.”

Jack snickered at the remark. Then he made another farting noise. Much to his delight Hasna raised her arm and tried to repeat the sound. It sounded more like a hotburple passing gas, a noise Hiccup and Jack both endured when Gobber still lived and Grump acted as the ignition for the forge. As he tried to keep a straight face, Jack slowly demonstrated the process a second time. Another loud reverberation echoed from the boat. Hasna laughed, and she repeated most of the steps and produced – in Jack’s expert and humble opinion – an acceptable raspberry. Thus, until it grew dark, Hiccup endured the booming repercussions of his husband and Hasna imitating a wide array of flatulence. They woke Biva at one point, but did not stop their play.

The Guardian privately admitted it felt good to act childish with Hasna. Her tiny laugh and smile proved infectious. It also eased some of the sorrows still lodged in his being. For a few moments he could forget how IceSpike perished, he could put aside the death of the children’s mother as she spoke their names with her dying breath, and he managed to distance himself from the woe he felt at the loss of the Island Miss crew. Being in direct contact with children reminded Jack of his duty to preserve the future for them. In her small form and rambunctious efforts to reproduce the affronting sounds, hope sparked. It warmed the colder spots inside the Earthling.

Alas the descending night brought a close to their play. Hiccup smiled at the life that bubbled out of both Hasna and his husband. Fate, something Jack vehemently did not believe in, seemed to bring together children and an adult who desperately needed one another. After a few moments, Hiccup included himself in that need. As he learned through Toothless and through Jack, caring for others took one outside of him or herself. It stopped a person from collapsing inward and being consumed by negative emotions. Given their current situation, they all needed what each other could provide.

“You really amaze me,” Hiccup said as he and Jack snuggled against one another. They watched as Hasna wrapped herself around her brother and drifted off to sleep.

“Thank you for that reminder, Hiccup. I needed to hear it,” Jack rejoined after he kissed his husband on the cheek.

Hiccup turned his face to make the most of the moment. The boat coasted along on the breeze that arrived from the northeast as silence dominated inside the craft. The slapping of the water against the wooden sides became rhythmic, and the Viking’s sailing instincts told him they should not expect inclement weather. While they might not travel exactly due south, they would generally continue in that direction. Hiccup gave up inwardly fretting over the notion he could calculate their position. Further inward he clung to idea Toothless survived the storm and managed to find a place to rest. Moreover, it seemed reasonable to assume the dragon would return to Berk to await his return. That would, of course, alert his people something amiss happened on the journey. Hence, even though he enjoyed the kisses he and Jack stole in the night, he did not feel completely at ease. It took him far longer to find slumber than it did for Jack.

The next morning Hiccup and Jack awoke before the sun completely rose. They rolled back the tenting and looked out over the impending dawn. The gray sky did not contain many clouds as it began to transition to blue. The both relieved themselves over the side of the boat before deciding what to do. Hiccup took the opportunity to fish. He used the guts he saved from the previous catch as bait. A question formed in Jack’s mind about bait Hiccup used the first time as he manned the tiller and made course corrections based on the gradually illuminating horizon. He shoved the though aside as he kept one eye on the children and the other on his mate. Hasna and Biva continued to sleep. When they woke, he decided he would play with Hasna for a bit while Hiccup prepared whatever he caught and then he would tend to Biva.

A half an hour later the Guardian in hiding tended to the children, mostly he kept Hasna from interfering with Hiccup. The Viking landed a fish about half the size of an Earth tuna, but looked like the char fish they found in the waters around Berk. While he only got the one fish, it would feed the four people for most of the day if not into the next. Biva started to complain about his needs in the form of crying, so Jack fed him some water. The adults decided they would not skimp with the children, but would ration how much each of them took. Secondly, a fish diet tended to add a lot of extra moisture to a person. However, Biva dispelled the water he drank the previous evening during the night, and he needed to be cleaned and changed. Thus, Hasna got set loose on Hiccup.

Biva required a thorough cleaning, and Jack availed himself some of the char fat to act as a protective barrier on Biva’s delicate skin. He then spent some time washing out the babe’s wrap in the ocean. The sullied water drifted behind the boat. Since they did not possess a second diaper, Biva sat naked between Jack’s legs while his wrap dried. Jack took a moment to interact with Hasna while Hiccup diced up the fish. He got the child to stand in front of him.

“Hasna,” he said her name while lightly tapping on her chest with an index finger. Then he pointed to her little brother and said: “Biva.”

“Beev!” Hasna happily repeated.

“That’s right. Hasna and Biva,” the man repeated and pointed to herself and the younger child.

“Hana… Beev,” the girl said the names and pointed to the named person.

“Very good!” Jack crowed and ruffled her hair.

Hasna giggled, and then tried to smooth her hair.

“Jack,” he said and pointed to himself. “Jack.”

“Ja?” Hasna intoned part of his name and made it sound like a question.

“I’m Jack!”

“Jack Jorgenson Haddock-Fries,” Hiccup rotely stated.

“Just Jack,” Jack said to Hasna.

“Ja!” The girl said and, to Jack’s delight, she tapped him on the chest.

He smiled and then pointed to Hiccup while saying: “Hiccup.”

“Hic… ah?” Hasna uttered and turned her head.

“Oh, this is a smart one,” Jack muttered, and said more loudly: “Hiccup.”

“Hic-ah,” the child said with more confidence and faced Jack again.

“Yes, Hiccup,” he told her in a higher pitched and happy manner.

Hasna smiled.

“Hiccup Horrendous Fries-Haddock the Third,” Hiccup rambled off his own name as he did his best to dissect the fish with the piece of metal he used. He also tossed most of the waste over the side of the craft.

Jack started to point to person after another and recited: “Hasna. Biva. Jack. Hiccup.”

“Ja!” Hasna repeated and touched his knee. She wheeled about and placed a hand on Hiccup’s back and said: “Hic-ah.”

The Earthling’s head bobbed up and down in encouragement.

“Beev,” she said her brother’s name and patted the boy on the head. Then she touched her own chest. “Hana!”

“Perfect,” Jack squealed and clapped his hands.

“Wouldn’t say perfect. Hicca?” Hiccup murmured.

“Stow it, Viking. She’s two at best and just learning. Besides, this isn’t even her native language,” he reminded his husband and gave him a small glare over the head of the girl.

“Yeah, yeah,” the Viking rumbled. “Come on: let’s eat.”

“Hasna, food,” Jack said and pointed to board with big chunks of fish on it.

The girl did not wait. She leaned over and grabbed a big slice. She stood in the gently rocking boat and gnawed on the fish. Food did not need translating.

“Here, give me Biva,” Hiccup instructed as he wheeled his legs over both the bench and Hasna’s head. “I’ll feed him while you eat.”

“Yes, sir,” the Guardian in hiding said and handed over the boy to his husband. “Make sure you chew it up pretty good. Needs to be like a paste.”

“Not my first time feeding a child fish, Jack. Do you remember when I looked after Haloke when Fishlegs and Groanhilde got sick in the spring and you were tied up at the shop?”

Jack glanced away.

“I thought so,” Hiccup said through sardonic chuckle.

The foursome sat quietly in the boat that got pulled along by the morning winds and ate breakfast. The char-like fish tended to be a little tough and not as sweet as the ones Hiccup caught the day before, but it carried a more intense natural flavor. Hasna did not seem to mind as she began working on her third piece. Biva ate whatever Hiccup offered. For a precious scant period of time, it did not feel as though the four existed in rather dire circumstances. Given the horror of the day before, it seemed almost a miracle they managed to find an initial balance between them. However, it appeared survival instincts operated at every age. Of them all, Biva appeared the most at ease. Yet after a filling meal of fish, even Hasna relaxed as she sat on the bench, leaned against the gunwale, and stared out over the ocean while they sailed along.

The other part of the morning got spent trying to figure out how one answered the call of nature when in such a confined space. Biva simply let loose in his diaper wrap. Hiccup and Jack held Hasna between them and edged her tiny rear over the gunwale. It took her a few minutes to figure out what they expected, but soon got the hang of it. As for the two men, they discretely went to the back of the boat and used the canopy to more or less shield themselves while the other distracted the children. Given they spent the previous day naked, Jack wondered at the sudden need for privacy.

The morning winds did not abate, something that caused both men to look cautiously into the sky. However, only thin clouds drifted overhead and did not seem to portend rain or, horror of horrors, another squall. With the worrying set aside, it gave the foursome little to do as the boat took them wherever the currents and winds decided. For the first time in two years Jack missed his ability to commune with the air currents and direct them as he deemed. The winds on Halla ignored Jack with the same vigor as every other manifest power on the planet. Hiccup leaned against the front of the boat, Biva sleeping in his lap, and took stock of their situation. Against his wishes, thoughts of Toothless ran through his mind. His body shuddered. The Viking wanted some sort of confirmation the night fury lived, but lacking that he could only direct his hopes and wishes.

The boat surged forward well past the noon hour. It roused the occupants. Both Hiccup and Jack looked under the edge of the canopy protecting them from the boiling sun at the ocean around them. They saw nothing; not even white caps. The Earthling moved to the middle seat.

“That wasn’t natural,” he quietly said while Hasna eyed him from where she curled on the floor.

“I got that,” Hiccup rejoined and also tried to sound chipper and normal. “Not a lot we can do, Jack, whatever it is.”

“Dragon?”

Hiccup shrugged. During his life he saw aquatic mammals, and a few fish, as large as a longboat dipping into and rising form the waters as he flew overhead. Sometimes they fought with dragons, and, surprisingly, could win against them. Stoick used to warn him that the seas held more mysteries than any could possibly imagine. His mother also said the same, but usually in reference to dragons.

“Could be a whale fish,” Hiccup conceded after a few moments.

“Shark? I’ve saw some awfully big ones back when I first got here,” Jack told him.

The Viking waggled his head back and forth.

They waited. After an hour when nothing else occurred except for the tapering of the breezes, they began to relax. Hiccup took it upon himself to dole out pieces of warm fish for supper. Both he and Jack also helped the children drink some water and took a few sips themselves. The sun aimed for the eastern horizon signaling the hazy, hot day would draw to a close in a few hours. The situation returned to normal, and the children grew fussy. With adequate food and water, a condition that would not last, they became more animated and acted their age.

“Hasna, stop. We need that for fishing!” Hiccup rounded the girl when she repeatedly tried to toy with his makeshift fishing gear. “You like to eat, don’t you?”

She made a face at him and began to sniffle. For the first time one of them them took her to task, and the child did not enjoy it. As if to show solidarity, Biva began to cry. Jack assumed the duty of checking his diaper and rash. It required a cleaning, but it did not stop the baby boy from setting up a constant wailing. The sound began to grate on both the men’s nerves because Hasna decided to join in. Jack looked at the crying children.

“I think they’re beginning to figure out this is the new… way of life for them,” he grumbled as he rocked crying Biva.

“I like it better when we’ve got parents to hand them back to,” Hiccup complained.

The Earthling and Viking then locked eyes. The reality hit them: they became the de facto parents to the two children they took from their dying mother’s arms. Something stirred deep within Jack. He looked down at Biva, and for a brief moment he saw the face of every child he ever rescued from a nighttime terror back on his home world. Then he shifted his eyes to his husband. Hiccup also wore an odd expression. He got so used to caring for dragons that could essentially look after themselves he never considered the need to physically care for a person. His father died a hero’s death, and his mother mother appeared indestructible. Only the time Jack got attack by the spokelesdrake forced him into another role. His eyes fixed on the man man across from him.

“This is serious,” Jack told him.

Hiccup nodded and replied in a quiet but stern voice: “I know.”

Although neither said it, neither could imagine letting the children die. The notion almost caused Jack to vomit, and a fierce rejection of the concept seized Hiccup. He reached over and scooped up the sobbing Hasna. Even though she struggled against him, Hiccup managed to wrap his arms around her and held her tight. A song he long since thought he forgot tumbled from his lips. Hasna began to quiet as the man softly sang. Jack held Biva in the crook arm and rocked the babe. Although seeming more temperamental at the moment, the motion timed to Hiccup’s singing slowly began to work. After fifteen minutes the two children became silent. The boat coasted along the water as the sky outside turned from pale blue to azure. The eastern edge of the world transformed into a gaudy salmon color, then peach, and finally a radiant crimson as the Hallan star slipped below the horizon.

“We need to trade them on a regular basis so each one gets used to both of us,” Jack suggested.

“You probably know more about children then me, so… yeah, that makes sense,” Hiccup agreed, paused for several seconds, and asked: “Jack, do we have any idea about what we’re doing?”

The slender man shook his head and said: “Nope, but I always hear new parent say the same thing. It’s a sort of a learn as you go situation.”

“Kind of unfair to the children, isn’t it?”

“Fair doesn’t have anything to do with it. If things were fair, they’d still be back with their parents… alive, and we’d be… somewhere… with…” and Jack stopped.

Hiccup saw the haunted look cross over his husband’s face. Anger and pain, the worst of form of misery since Jack could do nothing about either, settled on his features. Somehow the arrival of the children and the shrinking of the ice raft distracted the Earthling from remembering what he lost only days before. It seemed cruel to all of them for very personal reasons.

“But we’re here now, so are these two, and we have to deal with that first,” Hiccup intoned. “If we fail…”

He left the words unspoken because both knew it would mean death for all four. Their ultimate hope rested on the chance the wind and current would lead them to land or possibly in range of another ship. Jack looked out the back opening of the canopy. The dark, endless, flat ocean pulled his eyes in every direction. He hugged the sleeping child closer to him. In that moment he experienced a new type of fear. It made him pant. Hiccup watched the internal struggles of his mate. He wondered what degree of desperation needed to assail Jack before his powers came out. For over two days they rode the waves on a float of ice that logically could only come from one source: the Spirit of Fun.

The topic never came up as the quartet slipped into silence. The darkening sky meant they could do little until morning, unless one of the children needed a drink of water. Both men felt thirst slowly gnaw at the backs of their throats, but they could withstand such annoyances. Jack wondered if the hardiness of the Hallan body, internally different from his Earth shell, extended to periods of dehydration. Already Hiccup’s eyes looked sunken, and he imagined his did as well. When daylight came, Jack intended to bring up the subject. In the meanwhile, he stood and carefully walked over to his mate and sat down.

“Here,” Jack said and carefully extended Biva. “Snuggle with him for the night.”

Hiccup unwound one arm from around Hasna to accept the boy child and replied: “I’ll warn you right now she gets as hot as a moot fire. No fever, but… she just releases a lot of heat.”

The two men gingerly swapped positions in order to let Hasna continue to sleep. Jack leaned over her, protectively, and rested his head against the gunwale. Then he listened to the girl breathe in a regular rhythm. Even in the dark of an oceanic night her black, long hair managed to gleam. On the other side of the boat Hiccup sat on the floor, cross-legged, and held Biva close to him. The man stared down at the small brown face. Two days of food and water did wonders for the boy. It did for his sister as well. Their skin no longer looked sallow and wan, but rather a more robust chestnut brown. It appeared a pleasant coincidence to Hiccup when the boy made a sucking motion with his lips before settling back into slumber. Hiccup felt something start to change in him. He looked up and saw Jack staring at him from the seat at the front of the boat.

“Some of my earliest memories are about waking up and finding my father standing watch over me,” the Viking told his husband. “Mom was already gone by that point, so I don’t have any real memories of her from then. But my dad… he’s so… big in my memories.”

“I remember my dad,” Jack replied. “I wish I remembered more, but… well, I remember him showing me how to use a draw knife. I’d sit between his legs while we sat on a bench, piece of wood in my lap. He showed me how to use my knees and thighs to hold it while carefully pulling the blade toward my stomach. I can still hear him saying ‘make it curl, make it thin.’”

Jack rarely spoke of his mortal life on Earth, and Hiccup treated the small tale as something extraordinarily precious. While the Viking did not possess the best memories of his chieftain father, he at least recalled almost twenty years of life together. Jack, Hiccup knew, lost a fair amount of memories during the transformation into Jack Frost and then even more during a battle wherein his baby teeth – holders of childhood recollections – got partially lost. Thus, anything the man from another planet remember of his previous mortal life likely became one of the most valuable commodities to him. It reminded Hiccup anew Jack lead a tremendously complicated existence. The quiet of the night, the rocking of the boat, and the wistful thoughts of youth lulled both men into slumber. Their craft rode on the night breezes.

In early morning as gray dawn rose since clouds huddled on the rim of the world and the sun still lingered below the horizon, the boat gave a sudden and terrible lurch. All four passengers roused in a start. Biva began to cry at the abrupt awaking. Hasna reached up and grabbed Jack’s arm. Jack pulled her into a side-hug. Hiccup tried to sooth the boy. The two adults eyed one another.

“Whatever it is might be testing to see if anything is inside,” Hiccup theorized out loud as he tried to sooth the babe.

“Well, they know now,” Jack answered with caution in his voice.

Hasna babbled at him in her native language for few seconds, and ended with her version of name.

“If we just keep calm, we’re going to be okay,” he said to her, and to himself and his mate.

They sat in relative silence given Biva continued to fuss. Hiccup checked and found a wet diaper. He also found lap of his pants got soaked. The smell of urine clung to both of them. He wondered if the boy soiled his nappy as well.

The boat rocked again, and Hasna let loose with a small yell. Hiccup and Jack looked at one another. In unison they shrugged their shoulders as both silently admitted they could do nothing. The clever craft they used got provisioned for survival and not defense. Both realized all they could do very little except hope for the best and ride out the danger. The vessel shuddered as whatever teased them gave it another go. Hasna wrapped her arms around Jack’s thin waist. He wrapped his arm around her.

On board a larger ship like the Island Miss, they could withstand an assault from a single dragon, and perhaps even a small group. The boat would be doomed if creatures went on the attack. Whatever tested them did so again, except this time it hit from the side and pushed the boat for thirty or so feet through the water. It tilted to the side. Jack grabbed the gunwale to keep himself and his charge in place. Hiccup’s back pressed against the side wall while he firmly cradled Biva. For ten terrifying seconds the small slip plowed through the water. Biva cried and Hasna whimpered as she buried her face into Jack’s side. They seemed aware of the danger.

“Jack?” Hiccup said and tried to sound hopeful.

“You know I can’t,” Jack answered the question he thought I could. “I don’t even remember creating the ice disk.”

Jack watched a trace of fear creep through Hiccup’s features. Although they never directly spoke about it, the Earthling understood the Hallan privately relied on the assumption Jack’s Guardian powers would manifest in dire moments. Aside from the disk of ice that saved their life during the violent fight between Blikse’fey and Du buh Lach Nahr, Jack could find no evidence to support Hiccup’s contention. Even during the storm he only felt stirrings within his body that felt like an ancient memory. However, the present moment did not seem like a good time to raise his concerns regarding Hiccup’s theory, so he simply held Hasna close.

The boat got pushed in another direction for an even longer distance. Hiccup and Biva slide to the other side as the boat tilted. The man bent his body over that of the child’s. Biva cried in distress and likely for a number of reasons. Whatever toyed with the craft seemed powerful enough to destroy it should the mood take the creature. Hiccup made a gently shushing sound and kissed the boy’s forehead. Dim memories of his father, and it seemed before the age of five years, did the same when Hiccup took a fright. However, the son of the chieftain did not go so far as to tell the babe in his arms he needed to grab a sword and confront what he feared. A completely bizarre and unbidden image of Biva wielding a Viking bastard sword played though his mind.

For over fifteen minutes the quartet in the boat endured the torment of the beast in the water. It thudded and thumped against the wooden hull. It pushed them back and forth through the water for long stretches. To the adults it became clear creature simply made sport with the boat and probably did not realize anything alive rested inside. Both men privately thought it a good turn of luck the whatever assailed them did not overturn the craft. The children cried, but it did not seem to attract the attention of the beast. Hence, the children got forced to endure another torment at sea.

“I think it’s just playing,” Hiccup said when the boat peacefully drifted on the water’s surface.

Jack nodded.

“Would you agree it probably finds garbage floating around all the time?”

Jack nodded again.

“And I suppose there’s a reason why you’re not answering?”

Jack bobbed his head for a third time.

“Care to tell me why?” Hiccup gruffly inquired.

Jack leaned his head forward and jabbed it toward the back of the boat. His brown hair floated in the opposite direction, but his brown eyes remained fixed on a specific point and did not blink. Hiccup froze when he took at good look at his mate. Jack appeared nailed to his spot. Ever so cautiously and slowly Hiccup turned his head. He froze as well when he saw the large greenish eye staring at them through the opening at the rear of the canopy. Darker green, almost black, scales surrounded the eye. The size of orb stunned him. Both men knew sea dragons could grow to incredible lengths, but what they witnessed up close defied imagination. The fact it silently regard them increased the terror in the two adults. Hasna remained firmly attached to Jack’s side, and Hiccup’s body somewhat blocked Biva’s crying. Seconds ticked by and each felt like a small eternity as they waited to discover the dragon’s intentions.

Following a minute more of observation, the beast emitted a gurgling sort of growl. A thick water dribbled from the edge of the nostril slit, the very top of which the boat occupants could see. The creature snorted once and the wet slap of mucus hitting the back of the boat echoed around them. Only a buried, muffled shriek from Hasna and the continued wailing of Biva responded. Trained dragon riders knew better than to draw the visual awareness of an unknown beast. They hoped it would be the kind of dragon that assumed lack of movement meant no prey existed. The wait extended.

The mammoth dragon head slowly descended after an interminable length of time. Neither man spoke nor moved. They could hear splashing around the boat, and it indicated the beast remained near. Water sloshed for a few more second, and then nothing. Only Biva moved out of the four, and he cried at the same time. Hiccup realized the baby boy needed to be both cleaned and fed. Despite that, quiet waiting became the order of the day. He saw Hasna twist her face to the side so she could peer in the same direction as Jack. His arm remained securely wrapped around her like a coil of thick rope. Hasna sniffled, but did not cry.

She’s a smart one, Hiccup thought to himself.

Jack barely blinked the entire time for fear of missing a critical moment. After the splashing sound ceased, they bobbed on the waves as wind pulled or pushed them in whichever direction the dragon deposited them. The Earthling nearly got overcome by a desire to go aft, stick his head from the canopy, and make a course correction so they sailed south. Only the tightness of Hasna’s grip on his side kept him in place. Instead, Jack began to take into account his entire field of vision. Without losing sight of the rear of the craft, he saw Hiccup sitting on the port side floor with the complaining Biva held securely in his arms. He looked entirely prepared to fight the dragon to protect the infant. Only a few times in their life together did Jack see the man wear such an unmovable expression of defiance. He saw Valka in the man’s features and, for another rarity, a fierce set to the face that could only come from his father, Stoick.

“I think we in the clear for now,” Hiccup quietly said, but his voice sounded like a growl.

“We need to check our course,” Jack spoke the obvious.

“And he needs to be cleaned.”

Hiccup’s face broke into one of mild disgust as he stared at the fussing child, but then he grinned. Seconds later he said: “Who’s a stinky-winky wittle boy?”

Biva yammered, but Jack did not fail to notice his mate used a mannerism reserved almost exclusively for Toothless. Jack raised a single eyebrow. Hiccup glanced up and frowned.

“I do know how to do this,” he fumed a little as he misread Jack’s expression.

“Haloke. I know,” Jack replied, and then looked down at the face of Hasna who studied Hiccup and her brother. “We’re okay for now.”

When he tried to unwind her arms, Hasna fought him and refused to relinquish her hold. Her dark eyes met his acorn brown ones with a beseeching look. Jack smiled at her and ran his head down the side of her head. She visible relaxed at the comforting touch. From his vantage point, Hiccup wondered if some of Jack’s deeply buried power seeped to the surface. His mother, Fishlegs, Groanhilde, Astrid, and Ruffnut sometimes speculated about the same when they saw Jack play with their children. Hasna responded the Earthling in a very unique fashion.

“Come on,” Jack bid the child as he got a hold of one of her hands and tightly held it.

Fright, visceral fear, etched her round little brown face. Jack leaned his head down and touched his forehead to hears. Their eyes remained locked.

“I will do everything I can do to keep you safe,” he promised the girl.

There seemed to be a universal essence when an adult-figure made a vow to a child. Jack felt it swirl in his very cells. He made the promise from the core of his being as a Guardian. The small eyes, so piercing in their intensity, never left his. The man tilted his head upward until his lips touched the top of her head. He gave her a small kiss to seal his word. His body tingled ever so slightly. When he glanced at his mate, Hiccup wore a dopey expression despite the dangers surrounding them.

“What?” Jack inquired in mild annoyance.

“It’s just who you are,” the man softly stated.

Jack rolled his eyes. Then he stood into a stooped position. Hasna’s other hand lost it’s grip, but Jack never let go of her other one. He started to walk toward the rear of the boat, and the child dug her heels into the floor slats. She seemed to understand he meant to go where the monster just recently eyed them. Her head swung back and forth. The man lowered himself from a stoop to a crouch. He turned Hasna’s face with his free hand.

“It’s only when we confront what scares us… what we think is in the darkness that it starts to loose it power over us. We need to let that dragon know we will do what we must to go on,” he told her in a gentle yet strikingly firm voice.

Hasna’s brow ridge crinkled as she watched the man speak. Jack leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead a second time. When he resumed his position, Hasna wore a stern face.

“Guardian,” Hiccup snickered as he let Biva gnaw on his baby finger, something he saw Groanhilde do with Haloke, and tried to avoid the sharp teeth that jutted through the gums.

“Viking,” Jack rejoined in a gruff tone.

Although she still protested, Jack began heading toward the rear of the boat. With great reluctance, sometimes in open revolt, Hasna followed him. Hiccup saw Jack did not use a firm grip on her, but rather she clung to his hand. With relentless purpose the man crawled over the bench seats, past the still snickering Viking, and to the back seat. The tiller remained tied in place. Jack slowly approached the end of the vessel. His eyes focused on the edge of the stern in order to give him a fixed point against which to judge movement, a trick Hiccup and the other riders taught him years ago. The thought made him think of IceSpike, and he wrestled with the wave of sorrow that wanted to engulf him. Regardless of the great personal loss to himself, his need to protect the children rose to the fore and moved his grief aside. A day would come for that.

The dragon did not rise to greet them when Jack poked his head over the edge of after plank. The dark water, swirling green and blue as it reflected the much bluer sky of Halla, did not reveal anything. Of course, Jack thought, the dragon scales would ably camouflage the creature in the depths. When after waiting for a minute nothing appeared to snap his head from his neck, Jack twisted around to look at the sky. He found the sun just as Hasna’s head poked up next to him. Her concerned face scanned the water and then the sky. Seeing nothing, she retreated back into the boat.

“I think you got through to her, Jack,” Hiccup muttered between his chuckles.

By that point Jack slid under the canopy and onto the seat. He focused his eyes on the canopy and watched while he shifted the tiller. The boat slowly turned and soon the morning sun rested on the starboard side. Heading in a general southward direction again brought both men a small sense of comfort. Jack then went over to Hiccup to assist with Biva. He got put in charge of finding a blob of fish fat, the most disagreeable task when it came to tending to the boy, while his mate unwrapped the diaper. At the same time he snagged a sizable piece of fish and handed it to Hasna. She did not wait and began munching on her breakfast while the men tended to her baby brother.

“Feel like fishing?” Hiccup asked once a changed babe lay in the crook of his arm. He spoke around the piece of char he carefully masticated.

“Come on, sweet girl, time to learn how to fish,” Jack said to the small lass.

As he went to where Hiccup stored the fishing gear and got a piece of char for bait. Hasna sidled next to him and tried to grab the line. Jack held it out of her reach, and she grunted in frustration. As he did when they went to the back of the boat, he knelt before her. Hasna lunged for the line, and the man again held it away from her. Her lips started to tremble. While she prepared to throw a fit, Jack held out the hook Hiccup fashioned. He touched the tip of his index finger to it, and then violently jerked it back while shaking it.

“Ow!” He howled.

Hasna stared at him wide-eyed, and then shifted her gaze to the hook.

“Ow,” he repeated and stuck his finger in his mouth. The taste of fish fat drifted across his tongue. When he took it out, Hasna seized his hand and stared at it.

Several small words Jack could not decipher tumbled out of her mouth. While she babbled at his finger, Jack held up the hook. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at it. Tentatively she reached out her hand. Jack held still. With far more caution than he expected, the toddler gradually extended a finger. Then she touched the sharp end of the hook. Seconds later she pulled her hand back. Hasna looked first at Jack, and then at Hiccup.

“Aw,” she intoned and stuck her finger in her mouth.

“Yep, ow. Hurts,” Hiccup told her after he deposited a wad of pre-chewed fish into Biva waiting mouth. “Ow.”

“This girl is really quick,” Jack hummed, and Hiccup heard pride for Hasna.

“Are you sure it’s not that Frost power influencing her?”

Jack smirked and shook his head.

“Well, I guess it’s the Fries power then,” Hiccup rejoined.

The Earthling snorted several times as he tried to keep from laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Remember the language the guards thought you were speaking back on Earth?” Jack asked his husband.

A brief, dark expression crossed Hiccup’s face before he nodded.

“In that language, Norwegian, Fries means frozen… or to freeze.”

“You do realized I figured out that over ten years ago?”

The sarcasm in Hiccup’s voice could not be missed. Jack stuck his tongue out at his mate. Hasna giggled. They both glanced at her, and she found something else in which to be interested. Jack gazed at Hiccup.

“Okay, so she’s smart and maybe you didn’t have one thing to do with it,” the man holding the infant mumbled.

The Guardian rolled his eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

The brief respite during the day ended when the sun started to set. Fortunately, Jack and Hasna managed to catch two fish, another char and something that looked like a spiny but small gar. Jack gave Hasna all the credit for each fish they landed. She beamed and smiled at both men. Jack clubbed the fish into unconsciousness while Hiccup distracted the girl with her brother who turned fussy yet again. Jack took over watching the children and trying to settle Biva while Hiccup, despite being a mediocre cook at best, applied his deft hand at filleting the catch. Afterward the quartet dined on fresh fish and some water. Hasna spent time with Jack while he adjusted their course and trimmed the sail. He noted aloud the rather garish sunset, and Hiccup gave him a wary glance.

“Could be a storm, but I doubt it’ll be anything like the last one,” Jack said as Hiccup leaned out between the canopy and the stern to see the sky for himself.

“We’ll know if we start riding on swells,” Hiccup added.

Jack said nothing about the rather obvious statement and finished setting the tiller, He tied it off after he felt they assumed a southern heading. Once secure, he took over managing Biva who seemed on the edge of a constant tantrum. A check of his diaper and rash ruled them out as the cause. The two men discussed that perhaps the water and fish diet could be affecting him. Hasna, conversely, seemed to be doing just fine. After a final few sips of water, and both saw the water situation would become dire within the next two days, the foursome settled down as twilight deepened. The girl curled up next to the Viking. She quietly sang part of a song to herself, or made something up, in her native tongue. Without direct access to his powers, the Earthling could not translate it. However, the snippet of melody she remember seemed pleasant enough.

As twilight verged on nighttime, a great thud echoed through the boat and it rocked violently in the water. Hasna let out with a shrill scream, and that in turn scared Biva. The boy began to cry. As they did during the last assault, the men wrapped themselves around the children. The creature, and it seemed easy to assume the dragon returned, butted the boat and began to push it. The aft section rose upward. Jack, holding Biva, slid forward until the middle seat stopped them. Hasna clung to Hiccup, and he clung to the forward bench. They could feel the vessel shudder as it plowed sideways through the water. With out the sun and only a crescent moon, no one could discern in which direction they got forcibly shoved. For over a minute it seemed as though the craft would capsize as it tilted further and further on one end.

When the dragon desisted from that attempt, Hiccup held the crying, screaming Hasna. Terror flowed through his veins, but he could not imagine what it would be like for a child. In his youth he faced constant dragon attacks before he and Toothless brought an end to the Red Death. He realized it tempered his current reaction. A glance at Jack showed the steely expression on the Earthling’s face. That man, Hiccup thought, face dangers even the most adventurous Viking could not imagine. He saw the Earth and the duty Jack and his fellow Guardians performed each night. Hiccup suddenly realized he never once spoke to his husband about fear and what Jack actually experienced. In the midst of the brief calm, the Viking made a mental note to raise the topic when the reached relative safety.

The respite ended. The dragon changed tactics and hit them from the stern. The creature did not appear to be stupid. It only took a few moments before it realized the boat traveled much faster from that angle. The small craft raced through the water propelled by the enormous strength of the water dragon. The ride became more frightful for a different reason: both Hiccup and Jack knew if the bow hit a wave just right, they would plunge beneath the surface of the ocean. The threat of a storm they saw at sunset did not appear, yet the sea remained rough as wind passed over it and drove waves onward. With the boat facing only surface resistance, it meant the dragon could apply full force. It did.

Only on dragon back did Hiccup ever move faster. He rode one of the fastest breeds they knew about, and Toothless could reach dizzying speeds. Jack in his native Guardian form could achieve seemingly ridiculous pace far exceeding the speed of sound. Of course, he never felt it since his immaterial form slid through the atmosphere like a hot blade through yak fat. Hiccup experienced the sensation twice, but each time it left his mind reeling. Unlike those two occasions, the speed of the boat depended solely on the strength of the dragon and how quickly it could move through water. The lurches and vibrations of the vessel indicated its power.

For more than two hours the assumed dragon pushed them along the surface of the ocean. It did appear to be playing and not in a malicious manner. The craft carrying the four people became a toy for it. The constant state of visceral fear left the occupants numb. Hasna ceased screaming. She held onto Hiccup with a dead look in her eyes. Biva, oddly enough, slipped into slumber. Hiccup and Jack glanced at one another with a unmasked dread. While the craft appeared to be finely crafted and made of sterner stuff either could hope, they knew it would eventually give under the constant stress it endured from the dragon. Sooner or later it would begin to break apart. They each huddled with their current charge.

Throughout the night the forsome suffered repeated sessions. The dragon took great delight in pushing them through the water at fantastic speeds. Jack’s hopes the Coriolis Effect and southern currents would drag them near land or at least through island chains dimmed. For all he knew the creature pushed them back to the midworld. Hiccup’s hopes dimmed as well. Periodically he could feel a small spray of water from their scant stores as the boat got buffeted about. Their chance of survival rapidly diminished each time the limited supply of fresh water sloshed out of one of their makeshift buckets. In order to see them through the ordeal, they needed everything to work in their favor. The dragon did not comply.

When the beast at last grew bored or weary of its play, they floated along the undulating surface of the sea. The terror sapped their collective stamina, save perhaps the babe, and they slipped into heavy sleep. Jack knew either he or Hiccup should fix their position, but fear-wrought weariness left him little energy. He slumped against the side of the boat with the child in his arms. Hiccup held onto Hasna as she slept, and he drifted off as well while worrying about the amount of water remaining to them come the daylight. The boat coasted onward with clouds, a fingernail of moon, and stars watching their passage.

Dawn came and eventually heat. The quartet woke. Each appeared both hungry and thirsty. Hiccup could not stop himself from swearing when tallied their water. Over half got spilled during the dragon’s play with their vessel. Even if they got very conservative, they would run out within three days at best, but more likely in two days. The store of fish got tossed about. He tried to find pieces not contaminated by dirt and who-knew-what else landed on the floor. Four sizable chunks of fish remained. At least they could quell the hunger for the morning, but it also meant he would need to fish again that day. The mild swearing continued as Hiccup search for his line and hook.

Jack watched after the children. Hasna wore a haunted expression as she stared at the back of the boat. Somehow in her young mind she seemed to make a connection between the dragon and the wild antics of their craft the previous evening. Jack held out a hand not occupied with rocking the babe. Hasna walked over and took the proffered appendage. Then she wrapped it around herself and nestled against the Earthling. She needed comfort. Jack held her tight. They watched as Hiccup grew increasingly frustrated trying dislodge the fishing hook from where it got wedged between one of the seat stanchions and the floor.

“Water’s an issue,” Hiccup said shortly before noon once he prepped the new fish he and Hasna landed. Without being invited she left Jack to assist the Viking, and, to his credit, Hiccup accepted her presence without showing any agitation.

“I know. I saw how the sacks were hanging loose,” Jack replied after cramming a hunk of chewed fish into Biva’s mouth. “How long?”

“Two days. Three if we cut back on their rations,” the Viking said and nodded his head toward the girl.

“Then we cut back.”

“Are you saying we go without? ‘Cause if you are then we’ve only got three or four days left to live. It’s too hot on these waters to last long without water.”

“We need land,” Jack mumbled.

“We need water,” Hiccup rejoined.

“On land I could figure out a distillation system to remove the salt from the sea water.”

Hiccup blinked at the notion.

“They call it desalinization on Earth, and there’s a number of ways to do it, but I need to be on land,” Jack informed him.

“Sometimes I forget where you come from,” the Viking said and a trace of grin edged across his mouth.

“Probably on purpose. You don’t have the best memories from my home world,” the Guardian in hiding replied.

Hasna mumbled to herself as she finished off her piece of fish. Jack supplied Biva with another bit of masticated meat. Hiccup watched the trio. Jack looked completely in his element. He recalled the days over a dozen years before when he would delight the children of the village with marvelous pieces of snow sculpture, snowballs flying out of nowhere to begin a snowball fight, telling the children to get large, old pieces of sail and a plank of wood to make a sled, and generally encouraging them to treat winter as something special. It always worked. Those children now prepared to enter their young adulthood, and every now and again Hiccup could hear them talking about Isemaler. They delivered the legend and tales to the next generation. It seemed whoever filled in for Grimtooth continued with many of the traditions. However, it all started with the man sitting on the floor of a boat in the middle of some nameless ocean. Jack’s natural ease and rapport with children never failed to amaze Hiccup.

“So, how are we going to get out of this?” Hiccup asked when watching his mate gave him a moment of hope.

“I, um… Hiccup, think you can tame that dragon?” Jack counter-questioned.

The senior dragon rider blinked in surprise at the question, but then he found himself reciting the words of Fishlegs: “Water dragons are really, really tough to tame. It usually takes four or five attempts, and they can get really nasty during the process. I’d need to be on land to do it without getting us all killed.”

“And we can’t rope it or it’d pull us under.”

“I thought about that, too.”

Hiccup’s brain wrestled with the problem. If they could use the dragon, they might be able to find an island before they all died. However, neither of them knew the temperament of the creature. Any direct interaction with it could cause the beast to outright attack them. It did not seem to care if the humans remained in the craft, and that gave Hiccup pause for a moment. He looked at Jack and a sad notion the man might be flying over the planet Earth fairly soon gave him a jolt. Thinking of Jack’s death, and his own by extension, depressed Hiccup. He fixed his eyes on the the back of the boat. The tiller swayed against the rope from where the Earthling tied it in place.

An idea popped into his head and he spoke it aloud as it formed: “Jack, can you get our heading by looking at where we’ve gone?”

“I… maybe. Why?” Jack asked and suspicion laced his words. He knew his husband well enough to recognize when he schemed.

“’Cause we are going to use that pocking dragon,” Hiccup said in a growl. “You get us pointed in the right direction and I’ll steer the boat.”

“The dragon’s head will be in the way of the rudder.”

The Viking frowned because more often than not Jack’s quick mind found the real flaws in plans. His scowl deepened as he glanced around the interior of the boat. Then his idea refined itself.

“I’ll use an oar like a rudder.”

The Earthling narrowed his eyes as his brain mulled over the suggestion. He tried to concoct a counter-plan to the obviously dangerous one. However, their options remained limited. The loss of potable water hurt them the most, and it would lead to their deaths. The range of options narrowed even further. Inside the the craft the shirt Viking, skin still pink from over-exposure, watched him with a steady gaze. Next to him Hasna also kept an eye on the proceedings. She may not understand the words, he thought, but she could definitely tell they engaged in an important discussion. Biva lay on his back lolling in and out of sleep. The babe would die first among them when they ran out of water. Then Hasna would expire. Jack guessed he would perish before Hiccup. Leaving his mate alone surrounded by death did not appeal to him. His head began to bob.

“Alright. It’s better than doing nothing,” Jack agreed. His inner Guardian felt smug in a blunt manner.

After that he and Hiccup went into action. Firstly they made Hasna sit and deposited her brother into her lap. Jack mimicked with his arms what he wanted her to do. The girl complied as she watched the adults with tremendous interest. After which Jack helped secure the oars. He knew his husband manned the long boats on occasion and did so as a child with his friends. Vikings took to water like penguins. Unfortunately that particular variety of bird did not exist on Halla, so the simile only worked for him. After getting the oars ready, Jack took his station at the rear of the boat. He scanned the sky. The sun already reached zenith. I meant they would be forced to wait at least seven or eight hours before they could test their plan. The men returned to the children. Hiccup took Biva, and Jack let Hasna sit on his lap while he sat cross-legged on the floor.

“Okay, Earth man, tell us one of your Earth stories… and nothing about Guardians!” Hiccup requested as he handed out fish.

“Did I ever tell you the one about Jack and the Beanstalk?” Jack asked.

“Just had to make it about you, huh?”

Jack watched the wicked grin cross his husband’s face. The ploy meant to instill a sense of rebellion in him, and it worked. In the same vein Jack chose his story specifically for the same purpose.

“He was called Jack long before me,” he told his mate. “He wasn’t real bright, either, to be honest, but… well, okay. Once upon a time there lived a boy named Jack. He lived with his mother and an old cow… yak that gave them milk. Jack and and his mother were very poor and grew poorer by the day.”

By the time he reached that point, his voice grew melodic. On Earth he often told stories to children, usually about himself or the other Guardians, to help them feel safe and fall asleep. This time he did not want his audience to fall asleep. It impressed him when Hasna leaned to the side and studied his face as he spoke. It freed his hands, so Jack started to gesticulate and act out the tale. It helped him get into the spirit of moment. Hasna eventually sat on the floor so the Earthling could completely pantomime the story. He acted out the roles of Jack, the giant, and the golden goose. Jack did not skimp on the commentary since he considered Jack in the story to be a low-grade thief. He moralized that if an act could be considered wrong when well fed, than the same act when hungry remained immoral and unethical. Hiccup rolled his eyes when Jack strayed from the main story.

“So what happened to the body of the giant?” Hiccup asked. “And wouldn’t a stalk as big around as a house and taller than a mountain crush everything wherever it fell?”

“See? That’s my point. Jack might’ve thought he was justified in talking the golden goose, but he wasn’t. Maybe freeing the singing harp was ethical since it was enslaved, but killing the giant? And look at all the damage he caused. Never thought about the rotting carcass of the giant before.”

Hiccup leaned back and shook his head. Biva slept fitfully in his arms throughout the story. He smirked.

“What?” Jack prompted him.

“Is this what you do back on Earth?”

“I usually tell the kids stories about the Guardians. This way they know we’re around and protecting them,” the Guardian wearing Hallan skin replied.

“Okay, Jack Frost. What other horrid Earth stories do you have for us… and it’s probably a good thing they don’t know our language yet,” Hiccup requested, said, and glanced at the children.

“Did I ever tell you the one about Hansel and Gretel?”

Hiccup swung his head back and forth. Jack craned his head around and smiled at Hasna who managed to grab another piece of fish without either of them noticing. She looked at him with dark, rounded eyes.

“This one is really bad. Maybe Hic-ah is right about you not knowing our tongue yet.”

“Hic-ah!” Hasna gleefully said and trotted over to Hiccup. She held aloft her piece of fish.

“That’s okay. You finish it, Hasna,” Hiccup said and leaned over to kiss the top of her head.

Jack loved the fact the girl made a strong connection to his mate. Moreover, he could see it happening in the other direction. From what he could gather from tales of Hiccup’s childhood from their friends, the man preferred strong willed people. Astrid, Ruffnut, and even Valka seemed the proof of that theory. Hiccup snagged the girl and held her on his lap while she giggled. Biva rest in his other arm. Jack smiled at the sight of the Viking tending to two children at once. He again displayed hidden depths.

“Ja is going to tell us another one,” he said to her.

“Ja!” Hasna squealed and held out her fish.

Against all seeming probability, Jack leaned over and took a small bite. Even Hasna appeared surprised by his move. She almost looked offended in the estimation of the Earthling.

“Don’t offer if you don’t mean it,” he said to her.

“And Nick continues to find a place here,” Hiccup quietly intoned.

“They’re all with me,” Jack said to the Viking, and then gave him a searching look. “Just like you’re always with me… always will be.”

Hiccup nodded as a lump rose in his throat. No one knew exactly how long Jack would exist once he returned to Earth, but it could be thousands if not tens of thousands of years. It stunned Hiccup to think one person would remember him for such a duration. It made him feel marginally immortal as well. He gazed at his mate.

“Okay, so once upon a time there was a poor woodsman with a wife and two children named Hansel and Gretel,” Jack said and launched into the tale.

Unlike most people, Jack knew the original version of the story. He heard it once as a small child, fragments of which still existed in his memories, and thusly launched into the really gruesome tale. He did not spare the details about the wicked mother who convinced the father to kill the children and leave their bodies deep in the forest to be eaten by animals. In the same vein Jack did not shy away from the fact Hansel and Gretel attacked the witch’s house with a single-minded gluttony far exceeding their hunger. When it came to the witch, he painted her as a loathsome cannibal who especially like to eat children after fattening them for the slaughter. However, when it came time for Hansel and Gretel to push the witch in the oven, Jack made sure it sounded as horrible as he could make it. When he mimicked the anguish cries of the witch, Hasna hid behind Hiccup and peered around his side to continue watching the show. When it ended with the children reuniting with their father and learning their awful mother died of a wasting disease, the jubilation seemed a bit pyhric to Hiccup. Jack finished and stared at his audience.

“Good gods, no wonder they need Guardians on Earth! Do your people actually tell that story to children?” Hiccup barked in annoyance.

“They did for a long time, but no so much anymore,” Jack confessed as he sat down. “I, um, sort of picked one of the worst.”

“One… of the worst? You mean there’s more stories like that?”

The Earthling blushed a bit and looked away from his husband.

“Promise me right now you will never, ever tell any of these stories on Berk!” Hiccup demanded.

“Okay, I won’t tell those stories,” Jack swore and shrank into himself a little from embarrassment.

An uncomfortable silence settled in the warm confines of the boat. A gentle breeze barely moved them. The current did most of the work, so they did not travel in a truly southern direction. After half a minute, Jack peeked at Hiccup. Hiccup frowned at him while wrapping his one free arm around the girl.

“Don’t forget you’re the one who asked me for a horrid story,” he reminded the man.

“I didn’t mean one that gives adults nightmares,” Hiccup rejoined and started to chuckle. “Please tell me you understand how particularly awful that story is.”

“Yeah, I do. Why do you think I never told it before?”

From there the two men doled out some water to the children. Biva woke cranky and vocally let them know he preferred to sleep. However, the boy did not reject the water. To her consternation, Hasna did not get to drink her fill. Hiccup monitored her consumption. She threw him dark looks. Hiccup and Jack only drank a handful each. Given what they planned to do, being thirst-addled did not seemed like a good idea. After which Jack took charge of the cranky babe. Hasna settled on the floor between them. It did not take long before she closed her eyes and drifted into sleep. The two men quietly went about their preparations. Aside from placing the oars at the ready, little remained for them to do. Hence, the also napped in the hazy heat inside the craft. The winds carried them across the waters.

They missed dinner, but did not miss the arrival of the dragon. The boat heaved as the creature returned to make sport of the small vessel. All of the humans let out shouts of fright at being awoken in such a brutal manner. Biva exploded into a wailing cry as Hasna screamed and clung to whichever person on whom she could lay hands. Hiccup and Jack scramble to find purchase on one of the benches. Hiccup reached out and snagged Biva by his wet diaper as he slid across the slats comprising the floor. One of the oars rolled out of position and hit Hiccup in the back of the head. He yelled as much in rage as in fear. After half a minute the boat stilled.

“Get in place!” Hiccup yelled at his mate while rubbing the back of his head. A small streak of red appeared on his hand.

Faster than he thought he could move after such an abrupt awakening, Jack raced to the stern. In the meanwhile, Hiccup tended to Hasna. He picked her up and set in the bow the craft and then set the still screaming Biva on her lap. The girl looked both a bit disgusted and completely mystified. Hiccup wrapped her arms around the squirming boy.

“Hold him, Hasna. Hold Biva and don’t let go,” he sternly told her.

Hasna gazed at him in apparent consternation.

“Protect him,” Hiccup said while he leaned over to kiss her on the head.

With time likely growing short, the Viking left the two children and hoped they would be safe. He seized the oar that struck him on the head, and moved to the middle seat of the boat. Steering a craft from the side he did in the past, and he hoped he could remember mechanics of it. Riding dragons weakened his sailing skills over the year. They he waited.

Jack wiggled through the open between the canopy and the stern. He stared at the sky and picked out a few of the stars he recently learned to recognized. It gave him some sense of their bearings. As he began to slide inward, the dragon again nudged the boat. The Earthling grabbed the thin gunwale and hung on. This time the beast pushed the rear of the vessel and spun them in circles. Jack closed his eyes so he would not get too dizzy. He heard Hiccup flounder as he lost his balance. When the dragon left off, the boat slowly drifted to a halt. The night wind caught the sail and began to pull them along. Jack stared at the sky.

“We’re facing west!” He shouted.

“West!” Hiccup repeated, and then quietly said to himself: “Need to turn left.”

The Viking stuck the oar between the gunwale and the canopy on the left side of the boat and aimed it toward the front. The drifting circular path slowly came to a halt and the vessel began to turn toward the south.

“I need to sail more,” he grumbled to himself as he struggled to keep the oar in place.

“What?” Jack shouted.

“I’m too much a dragon rider now!” Hiccup loudly grumbled.

Jack smiled despite the dire situation. Before he could make a sarcastic remark, the dragon hit the craft again. The boat moved from facing southwest to southeast. Hiccup raced to correct the oar’s set and begin to angle them starboard. At the same time the boat began to shoot forward.

“We’re still southeast,” Jack yelled from his spot, his head dangling over the edge of the stern where he gazed at the sky.

“How much?”

“Give it two or three seconds of correction!”

The oar now pointed toward the back of the boat. Hiccup twisted the long pole in his hand and the blade bit into the water. The began to lurch to the right. He counted to two and corrected the angle. The boat ripped through the water as fast as Meatlug at a medium pace.

“How’s that?” Hiccup bellowed.

“Good enough!” Jack returned.

The idea at first seemed highly improbable, yet it began to work. The dragon appeared to sense something toyed with it, and the beast started to alter course. Hiccup twisted the oar to counter the motion. Jack called out their heading. It became shorthand. Hiccup steered the boat as best he could. It became tiring work for a man who ate sparsely and verged on dehydration. Periodically he would gaze at the bow where Hasna sat, looking totally terrified, and clasping her screeching brother. It reminded the man what lay at stake. The gambit needed to work.

For an hour the boat hurled through the water on a wandering southern tack as the humans struggled to counter the actions of the dragon. Hiccup felt the water shift under them three-quarters of an hour in and realized they crossed into a new current. He tried to gauge their speed and, thus, the distance they traveled. However it proved difficult to calculate and steer the boat at the same time. He hoped Jack managed to make an estimation. The Viking needed to concentrate on steering the boat as much as possible.

“Gods, my arms,” Hiccup said when the dragon broke off and did not return for nearly ten minutes.

“You did an incredible job,” Jack praised his mate, and he meant every word. “Take my share of the fish. You need it.”

“No…”

“Hiccup Horrendous Fries Haddock… the third! You just spent every bit of strength in you keeping this boat on course. You will take my share of the fish for the night and you will eat it! Any questions?” The Earthling all but snarled at the Viking.

“No, sir,” replied Hiccup in a meek voice.

Jack climbed over the benches until he stood crouched next to Hiccup. Slowly and with great intent, he leaned his forward and kissed the man. By the count of ten Hiccup returned it in earnest. For half a minute they stood locked. When they parted, each grinned at the other.

“I feel better already,” Hiccup stated in a soft voice.

The two sat at the bench across from Hasna and Biva who, against all logic, fell sound asleep. She looked at them with naked wonder. Her dark eyes sparkled in the last glimmerings of light as the world turned a different face toward the sun. Neither man could begin to imagine what she thought. It seemed reasonable to conclude she somehow knew he parents would not return and that she fell under the care of the men who found her. Biva smacked his lips in his sleep. In silence Hiccup began to eat. Hasna watched him. He offered her a small piece which she accepted and began to nibble. Once Hiccup downed three large chunks of the spiny tuna, he glanced at his mate.

“How far do you think we traveled?” He asked the slender man who, and it pained him to make the observation while he ate the lion’s share of fish, looked even skinnier.

“Probably forty or fifty miles. Probably closer to forty,” Jack supplied the answer he calculated while the dragon drove them onward.

“That’s sounds pretty good. Oh, and we crossed into a new current. I could feel it through the oar. The pressure is moving west by northwest against us.”

“And that means?”

“That means there some sort of land mass within a couple of hundred miles of us,” Hiccup said with a bit of hope in his voice.

“Hic-ah!” Hasna suddenly shouted causing both men to flinch and her to giggle at the respond.

Hiccup leaned across the bench and asked: “Yes, Hasna?”

She studied his face for a second and then said: “Beev, evnu. Evnu.”

“Evnu?” The man repeated.

Jack felt a stirring deep within his mind. Unfortunately, he could not force it to the surface. His native powers felt the presence of a child in a state of excitement or wonder, and responded accordingly. Hiccup always said the Guardian could not be expelled from him.

“Evnu,” Hasna repeated and gave her brother a fierce glance.

She then covered her face and turned her head.

“Evnu. Smelly… stinky,” Jack said.

Hiccup’s head whipped around with a certain expectant expression.

“No, it wasn’t that. I just watched her reaction,” Jack explained.

The Viking swiveled around to face the children. He bent over the bench close to them, closer to Biva, and then quickly jerked upright. He waved his hand in front of his face.

“Stinky! Evnu!” He loudly exclaimed.

Hasna giggled. Between her and the man, they woke the child. He started to cry, and that did not seem to surprise any of them. Hiccup took charge. He lifted the wailing child from the girl. His improvised nappy slid off his body and landed with a heavy thud on the floor. The boy let out with another cry.

“Come on, Guardian. We got work to do… and I did diaper duty this morning,” he said and quickly added the duty assignment.

“Fine,” Jack grumbled.

It did not take them long to clean and pamper the babe once they set the tiller and aimed the boat southward. The salty ocean water washed away the filth from Biva’s body. Jack washed out the long strip of cloth as best he could, and he wondered what the fish and other creatures would make of the feces and urine trail. After which Jack kept charge of the naked boy and began to feed him. Of late Biva liked to try and bite fingers. His new and extremely sharp teeth nipped painfully at any finger that ventured too far into his mouth. Jack did not want to admit it, but he took the job of feeding Biva so he could sneak a few morsels into his stomach. At one point Hasna slid next to Hiccup. It became quite obvious that in a short amount of time she became attached to him. Hiccup also appeared to be found of her as exemplified by the way he unconsciously loop his arm around her small shoulders.

“What if the dragon comes back?” Jack asked before either man could fall asleep.

“We do it all over again. I mean, how many miles do you think we’re getting from the sail?” Hiccup brought up a rather salient point.

“Maybe three or four an hour on average.”

“So in one hour with the dragon we covered more distance than we could in ten hours under sail. That’s a risk I’m willing to take. You’ve seen how much water we’ve got. After tomorrow we’re out.”

The news came out of the man’s mouth as a dire warning. It argued well for using the dragon as much as they could, Jack thought. He nodded his head as he considered the facts of their situation. Once the water ran out, they would slowly die. Granted, the fish would provide some moisture to their systems, he knew, but not enough to sustain them in the long run. The children would likely die first. Their mother used the last of her body to keep them alive. The Earthling and the Viking could not provide that kind of sustenance.

“Okay,” Jack conceded. “Let’s get some sleep until it returns.”

Sleep crept over the group, except for Biva who lay in Jack’s lap and struggled to get free. The preternatural senses in the Guardian’s body managed to wrangle the child while the man dozed. Jack remained unaware his arms kept Biva corralled during his napping. The boat gently sailed along under a small wind. The sound of water quietly slapping against the prow of the vessel lulled them into slumber. They managed to sleep fitfully, except for the boy who made a game of trying to escape the man who somehow managed to keep him within arm’s length.

Screams, shouts, and yells punctuated the deep night when the boat heaved forward. As though rehearsed, the groggy men went into action. Hiccup put Hasna in the front and Jack gave her Biva. The girl wrapped her arms around her screaming brother as the boat lurched a second time. Jack headed for the stern as Hiccup took up an oar and his position on the middle seat. The craft slid sideways while the Earthling stuck his head out from under the canopy and glanced at the sky. Clouds scudded across the heavens, and it forced him to pay closer attention. He got his bearings and the boat shuddered again.

“We’re facing north,” he announced. “We need to turn full circle. Either direction: it doesn’t matter.”

Hiccup tilted the blade face and pushed it further into the water. The boat began to turn. Jack started to count in his head. The dragon shifted it’s angle off attack. Before he could warn Hiccup, the Viking deftly countered by maneuvering the oar so it compensated for the change of direction. Jack yelled when they finally aimed in the correct direction. As with their first engagement and attempt to steer the craft, the boat lanced through the water in the direction of their choice. The dragon, however, appeared to become aware something wrested control from it. Several times it tried to push the boat in another direction, but Hiccup managed to guide it back. After forty minutes of hard work, the dragon suddenly let off. The skiff began to slow.

“I don’t think… shit!” Jack yelled and ducked back under the canopy.

The wedge-shaped face of the dragon suddenly appeared over his head. Long, thin teeth – perfect for spearing fish – rose out of the maw that opened and lunged for the human. It missed and Jack lay panting. The eye of the dragon once again filled the gap between the stern gunwale and the edge of the canvas. A low gurgling growl rippled out of it’s mouth.

“It knows we’re the ones changing direction,” Hiccup softly muttered.

“I never would’ve known,” Jack sarcastically rejoined. Otherwise, he remained perfectly still.

Hiccup snorted, yet he also admired Jack’s calm in the face of what seemed to be a rather large dragon. If the size of the head could be used as a measure, it easily eclipsed the a monstrous nightmare by twice as much. A creature of those proportions could reduce the craft to splinters in short order. At the front of the boat, Biva fussed and struggled against his sister. The dragon’s eye twitched in their direction. The mood of the beast became impossible to gauge. The tension in the boat mounted as the boy continued to fight and whine. Both Hiccup and Jack moved to distract it from the children. The large eye jumped back and forth.

“Any ideas?” Jack quietly inquired.

“Don’t die, but that’s about it,” Hiccup answered in a whisper.

The dragon’s head rose while opened it’s mouth. The absurdly long teeth, needle thin in comparison to the body, gleamed with a rather greasy sheen in the light of the waning moon and the stars. It announced poison. The beast then neatly pieced the canopy. The sound of tearing rent the air. Biva continued to ball and squirm. Hasna, however, never utter a peep. Hiccup took a quick sidelong glance. The girl stared in visible, wide-eyed terror. It made the man wonder if she saw a sea dragon in the past.

“Thoughts?” The Viking asked.

“Dread. Fear. That’s about it,” Jack replied.

The dragon ripped away at more of the canopy. If it did not kill them, and reason argued it would, then it left them exposed when the sun rose. That, coupled with the nearly exhausted water supply, would confer a death sentence.

Another tear got added to the limply hanging piece of canvas protecting the occupants from the elements.

“Fighting it would be pointless. We’d just make it mad,” Hiccup added.

“What if we play dead?” The Earthling pondered aloud.

“Play dead? Jack, it already knows we’re alive.”

The sound of ripping material got added to their budding argument. It quelled the disagreement. Hiccup watched. The dragon did not appear hungry or even very angry. He could not figure out the beast’s intention. It created a huge puzzle in the senior dragon rider’s head.

“What if it’s playing with us?” He said in the deathly silence.

“Playing?” Jack queried with no small amount of incredulity.

“It could attack at any time, but it didn’t… isn’t.”

The oddity hit the Guardian square in the face. The dragon only ripped the canvas. Granted, it moved continuously forward, Jack thought, but it did not strike. It did not upset the boat when the enormous water reptile could do so in a thrice. Hiccup’s theory began to take on weight. Whatever the beast wanted, it did not involve wanton destruction. Why remained the burning question. Both men knew they would discover the answer to that question in due time. The dragon chewed closer and closer to them.

“Hey, Slippery!” Hiccup yelled without warning and jumped up.

“What are you doing?” Jack hissed at his husband.

Hiccup ignored him and instead picked up and oar. The dragon paused in its slow consumption of the canopy. The Viking held up the oar but did not brandish it as a weapon. He waggled it back and forth. The shiny, slick head moved to and fro as it followed the motion. Hiccup walked forward as he continued to wave the oar. The head of the best rose higher and backward. It stared down at the man, whom Jack assumed lost complete grip on his senses, from at least fifteen feet in the air. Once Hiccup got to the mauled portion of the canopy, he angled his body a little.

“Ready, big guy?” He merrily called to creature.

“Hiccup!” His mate pleaded with the name.

“Ready?” The man with the oar said again.

Then Hiccup did the most unexpected thing, even more unexpected than engaging with the dragon: he threw the oar like a javelin. It sailed through the air, the blade acting as a tail, and landed twenty or so feet away from the boat. The dragon looked at Hiccup. The man pointed to it.

“Go get it! Go get the oar!” The Viking playfully commanded.

Jack felt his mouth flop open in disbelief when the dragon disappeared from view as it rapidly descended into the water. Seconds later it popped up next to the oar. The huge mouth with saber-like teeth opened and took hold of the implement. Then it swam back to the boat. The head again lifted high into the air. The oar fell from its mouth and clattered next to Hiccup. He picked it up and then threw in the opposite direction. The dragon repeated its earlier act. Soon the oar got returned to the boat.

“He… she really did want to play,” Hiccup triumphantly announced.

“Gods, I hate you sometimes,” Jack heaved and lay against the seat.


	10. Chapter 10

By morning both men nearly exhausted themselves playing fetch with the dragon. The beast grew more eager with each toss of the oar as though it spent a lifetime looking for someone with whom to play. During the intervals when they switch so the other could rest, Hiccup theorized the dragon got befriended by a sailing crew at sometime. When it head-butted their boat and pushed it around, it made an invitation to play. He thought the way they directed the boat seemed to satisfy the creature it found people with whom it could entertain itself. When morning light came, the dragon slipped below the surface and disappeared.

“I think it’s nocturnal,” Hiccup wearily stated as he lay on the floor.

Jack cleaned and pampered Biva while Hasna ate most of the last of the fish. Hiccup saved some for the boy and one other purpose. Then water got carefully rationed to the children, much to the impatience of the girl. Jack left Biva squirming on the floor while his diaper got rinsed in the ocean. The Viking examined his fishing gear.

“I think he… she is the reason why we haven’t seen any other dragons since we got into the boat,” Hiccup continued with his open pondering. “It was testing to see if the boat had people in it. Once we started steering, it knew if found people.”

“Seems rather obvious now,” Jack drawled while he twisted the length of diaper cloth to wring out the water.

“Now, yeah, but… did you ever hear Fishleg’s hypothesis that some dragons are naturally disposed to friendliness? I think this might be proof.”

“It’s not proof. We don’t know how or when it met other people or under what conditions. All we know is it doesn’t look at us like food… yet.”

The half-naked Viking frowned at the half-naked Earthling. The hot midworld conditions, even at night, made dispensing with garments a necessity. Hasna wore a wrap about her waist, but her upper torso also went unclothed. Biva dressed only in a diaper when it did not lay in the sun to dry, and at those times he traveled naked along the surface of the ocean. His nut-brown skin gleamed with the help of fish fat used to protect his skin. Jack finished laying out the diaper cloth across the back of the boat. He also fixed the craft on southern trajectory. Hiccup busied himself with fishing with the assistance of Hasna. Without understanding why, the Viking spoke non-stop to the girl. Jack knew and he decided to let the natural magic of mortals run its course.

Late in the afternoon Hiccup woke with a start. He threw his head in a wide arc in an seeming attempt to scan the entire horizon. When his eyes landed on Hasna sitting in the the bottom of the boat, in a shaded section, entertaining her brother, the man breathed a sigh of relief. Jack lay sprawled near the rear of the boat, one and one leg thrown over the bench, and purred a contented little snore. Hiccup stood and stretched.

“Hic-ah,” Hasna said and smiled at him.

“Hasna,” he rejoined in the warmest voice he could muster, and then smiled at her.

“Hic-ah, Beev evnu… sink-he,” she told him.

“Aren’t you the cleverest little girl?”

He hunkered down into a crouch before her and her brother who made a vain attempt to crawl from her lap. The smell of feces and urine met his nose. He waved his hand in front of his face.

“Stinky!”

Hasna laughed for a moment. After which she glanced down at her tog. Her face scrunched up.

“Sink-he. Beev sink-he vam,” she rumbled with displeasure.

It took little effort to understand what occurred: in soiling himself as babes tended to do, Biva soiled his sister as well. Hiccup reached over the girl’s shoulder and grabbed Jack’s arm. He gave it a shake and Jack sat bolt upright.

“I never saw a hado’ih there,” he burst as his eyes flickered.

“You’re dreaming about Earth again, Jack,” Hiccup intoned in a calm but firm voice.

Jack gazed around him in a rather bleery manner. He yawned. Then ran a hand through the tangle of hair gone wild on the top of his head.

“Give me a hand. We’ve got some washing to do.”

“How long were we asleep?” Jack asked.

Hiccup looked at the sky and said: “Five hours at least.”

“Gods, the children!”

The Earthling shot into a standing crouch.

“Took care of themselves. Well, Hasna kept Biva from falling out of the boat at the very least.”

Jack visibly calmed. Hiccup reminded him they needed to launder the children’s clothing. Hiccup unwrapped the boy. Jack snatched the tucked edge of Hasna’s skirt. He made a motion with his finger indicating she needed to turn in a circle and gently pulled on the garment. Following a few false starts, Hasna got the gist. Seconds later she stood as naked as her brother. She glanced at the two men. Neither reacted. Jack leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. The men then went to work cleaning the garments.

Following a meal of fish and a few sips of water at sunset the boat rocked. Instead of eliciting screams and yells, tense expectation grip the passengers. They waited. Moments later the familiar outline of the dragon’s head rose from the darkening waters. Hiccup stood and grabbed the oar. The creature did not paddle outward to await the throwing of the oar. Instead, it stretched out its long neck until the head hung over the inside of the boat. Then it opened its mouth. Several dark objects fell out and landed with dull thuds on the rearmost bench. Jack reached over and grabbed one. His face went slack in surprise.

“Jack?” Hiccup inquired with the name.

“It’s… my gods, Hiccup, it’s a coconut,” Jack half-whispered.

The dragon nudged the boat with its head.

“Better throw the co… whatever it is,” the Viking suggested.

The Guardian stood while the dragon rose up in the water. Years of playing with children, woodworking, and helping Hiccup in the smithy left him with more than enough strengthened sinew. He cocked his arm back and launched the coconut. It soared through the air. The dragon darted after it.

“Nice throw,” Hiccup complimented the man, but Jack already bent down to pick up another of the fuzzy looking orbs.

“Hiccup, these are coconuts,” he exclaimed for a second time, and monitored his husband’s reaction. After a few seconds he added: “They grow on trees… on land!”

“What?” The Viking blurted and almost tripped over the middle bench as he tried to jump over it.

In the meanwhile Hasna made a grunting sound and pointed at the returning dragon. Hiccup picked up the third of the four objects the beast dropped into the boat. He turned as the dragon swam up to them and returned the coconut Jack threw. Hiccup hauled his arm back and let fly with with one in his hand. The dragon made a spray of water as it flopped backwards and began its pursuit. Hiccup returned his attention to his mate.

“Jack, what are these things?” The Hallan asked and held aloft the fourth object.

“The fruit of a palm tree. They grow in the tropics,” Jack excitedly explained.

“And…?”

“And that means land is somewhere close.”

“The dragon could’ve found them floating in the water,” Hiccup challenged.

Jack started to shake his head: “One or two, sure, but not four. Plus it peeled the husks off. This dragon knows what coconuts are and where to find them.”

Hiccup did not appear convinced.

“So you’d rather believe the dragon spent the entire day swimming around looking for free floating coconuts before coming back here?”

The sound of one of the hard, round object landing in the boat echoed around them. Hiccup turned, waved the coconut at the dragon – whose head followed the motion – before he threw it back out to sea as far as he could. The dragon raced after it.

“Hic-ah!” Hasna burbled in glee at the display.

“Jack, why…,” Hiccup began to say, halted, and watched the dragon look for the coconut. “Because someone taught it play fetch with ‘em. Once it knew we’d do it with the oars…”

“The dragon went looking for it’s preferred toy,” Jack interjected.

Night crept up from the western horizon as the eastern one turned a dull gray. Clouds obscured the early stars. Both men looked skyward as the dragon returned after finding its quarry. It tilted it’s head so the coconut could roll off its teeth. Hiccup caught it before it could land on the floor of the boat. Hasna giggle. Biva yammered. The Viking wanted to see if he could test the Guardian’s theory, but he did not share a common set of actions, commands, and gestures with the dragon. His mind drew a blank. He turned to Jack as the creatures head and neck wobbled back and forth due to the chop on the ocean.

“How would you ask it where it found this thing?” Hiccup asked his mate and then threw it ten yards out into the water.

“I don’t know,” Jack confessed, and then he felt a pang of loss as he thought of how easy it would be to get IceSpike to concentrate on an object and lead the way toward it.

Even in the dim light offered by the sliver of moon and the stars not covered by clouds Hiccup could see the expression on Jack’s face. Interacting with a strange dragon likely reminded the man of his lost dragon. Fear tried to creep into Hiccup’s mind that Toothless might also be forever lost to him, but he roughly shoved the notion aside. Jack also tried to sidestep the emotions that wanted to take over and tear him apart. Images of his beloved woolly howl tripped through his mind. As much as he wanted to give into the grief, his training as a Guardian came to the fore. Lives depended on finding out if the dragon could show them where it got the coconut. The beast rumbled at them.

“Okay, Slick,” Jack said and cleared his throat once. He held the coconut in his left hand, raised his left arm, and let it bow ever so slightly to one side. Then he swayed a little. From there he pointed at the coconut and then moved his armed in a slow arc along the west. “Where’d this come from?”

The dragon swam backwards in preparation for the chase. Jack stepped toward the edge of the boat. He did not throw the fuzzy dark sphere. He instead repeated his actions. The dragon swam back to the boat. It studied Jack with one eye and seemed either confused or intrigued by the man’s actions. Jack repeated the pantomime. The dragon swam back out into the water.

“He’s doesn’t know what you mean,” Hiccup muttered.

“Just give me a few minutes to work this out,” Jack rejoined. He waved for the aquatic beast to come back to boat, and, amazingly, it did. It’s head towered over them while the Earthling carried out the performance again. “Where did you find this?”

The dragon head leaned in closer. A strong smell of fish wafted from its mouth. It turned it’s head so one eye directly faced Jack. While obviously intelligent animals, no one ever quite discovered the extent of draconic intelligence despite Fishleg’s assurances Meatlug understood everything he said. Jack did not bank on that guarantee since they did not deal with a hotburple at the moment. For a fourth time he performed his routine. He held the coconut above his head, swayed the arm holding it, and then point to it before pointing out to sea. The dragon clearly studied him.

“Where?” Jack begged with the word.

For half a minute the creature eyed him. It then twisted its head and faced in a south easterly direction. The dragon faced Jack again, and once more looked to the southeast. Jack sighed in relief.

“That direction,” he said with more confidence than he felt as he nodded in the direction the dragon indicated.

“You honestly think that dragon just showed where it found the coco… nut?”

“Yep. Watch.”

Jack used his body sign language to again asked the dragon where the coconut originated. For a third time the beast faced the southeast before returning its attention to the boat. The Guardian smiled.

“Good boy!” He said in a high-pitched voice. Then the threw the coconut as hard as he could toward the southeast.

The dragon dove into the water and tore after after it. The beast actually created a small wake. Jack turned to his husband. A small frown rested on the face dusted with freckles.

“I thought you believed in the intelligence of dragons… or is that just Toothless?” Jack inquired in flat manner.

Hiccup appeared as though his mate slapped him. He stood up straighter as the effrontery assailed him. In the near distance the water splashed as the dragon went in search of the coconut. Jack reached down and grabbed one lying on the floor. Although he did not possess a lot experience with the tropics, he could tell the coconut he held recently got de-husked. He lifted it to eye level.

“The dragon knows where this came from, and he’s going to take us there,” Jack said, his words brimmed with real confidence.

Hiccup raised his eyebrows.

“What other choice to do we have?”

The Viking pursed his lips as the reality of their situation asserted itself. Jack’s plan, Hiccup thought, might come from desperation, but at least he found one. The head topped with russet hair, now streaked with lighter shades of red by the sun, bobbed in agreement. The Guardian faced the approaching dragon and waited. When it got near, Jack lifted his free hand and held it palm facing outward. Then he closed his eyes and tilted his head downward. The wait began. Twenty-two second later, and he counted, a wet muzzle pressed against his hand. Jack gently rubbed the slippery scales. He missed IceSpike more than ever.

“Good boy,” He said in a low, pleased voice. His arm ratcheted backward and heaved the brown, round object out into the dark sea.

“You’ve gotten good at that,” Hiccup mused aloud.

“Learned from the best.”

Jack could just see Hiccup’s cheeks turn a slightly darker shade in the final moments of twilight as night sailed overhead. Out in the water the dragon flounced around in search of the coconut. Then he heard it and realized he heard it before. A gentle thrum rippled in the air and he could feel it in the soles of his feet.

“This one uses some form of echo location,” he said mostly to himself. “Sound waves in the water…”

“Travel father and faster,” Hiccup concluded the phrase Jack taught him over a decade before.

Later in the evening when the Viking took his turn amusing their new friend, he also enacted the trust ritual. The dragon responded in seconds, but he knew it came because Jack made the first overtures. As they played with the beast, he grabbed a reluctant Hasna who watched the proceedings from the safety of the prow. She put up a struggle even when the man lifted her from the floor. Jack stood next to them and rubbed her back. In his other arm he held Biva, and the boy watched the goings-on.

“This is part of the world, Hasna,” he said in a bubbly manner. “They looks scary, but… well, they only look that way.”

For second time Hiccup held out his hand. Jack encouraged Hasna to do the same and tried to guide her arm. The dragon came in close and paused. The long slits of nostrils on the top of its wedge-shaped head opened and blew out small puffs of atomized water. It leaned in closer to Hiccup and the girl. Hasna made worried noises and squirmed in the strong grip of the man. Several heartbeats later the dragon pressed its nose against the offered hand. Hiccup gingerly patted it.

“See? Friend,” he told the girl.

Jack stopped rubbing her back and raised his hand as well. The dragon appeared a touch confused, but immediately shifted the large noggin and accepted the greeting. Jack leaned forward. Two small hands reached out and touched the dragon. The large eye opened, and it became clear it looked at the boy. Seconds later it closed its eye again. Biva gained the trust of the beast.

“Biva is friends with… with… Neptune,” Jack said and announced his chosen name for the creature.

“Neptune?” Hiccup asked. “What kind of name is that?”

“God of the seas from old Earth mythology.”

“Oh, well… okay, then.”

Jack chuckled. Then he returned his attention to the girl. Although she continued to resist, he took her hand in his. He slowly moved it forward until it looked as though she reached for the dragon. The creature reacted as expected. It moved toward her. Hasna made frightened coos. However, the dragon soon pressed its face into the two hands. Jack began to pet the snout with the girl’s hand. The dragon warbled a liquid sound. Hasna stopped struggling, and soon her hand worked of its own accord. She stroked the slick, smooth hide of the animal.

“Neptune,” he told her. “This is Neptune.”

“Nepta?” Hasna asked with uncertainty.

“Sure, Nepta,” Jack replied.

“Nicely done,” Hiccup whispered.

Hasna swiveled her head, looked at him while continuing to pet the dragon, and said: “Nepta, Hic-ah! Nepta!”

“Yep, Nepta,” he agreed.

It seemed the dragon got a new name. The dragon appeared to enjoy the experience as much as the people. A reasonable speculation on the part of the men assumed it once befriended a sailor and they became quite close. The creature seemed starved for attention, and the four people lavished it on the dragon. Nepta, the name by default since Hasna could only pronounce it like that, made sounds neither dragon rider ever heard. The chalked it up to the fact Nepta roamed the deep seas and, thus, got equipped with different vocal faculties. The five creatures stood admiring one another for almost an hour. Even Biva seemed captivated by the sea dragon.

“Now, how do we get Nepta to take us to the island?” Hiccup asked.

Although he possessed more knowledge about dragons, Hiccup differed to Jack in the hopes the sea dragon would lessen the impact of losing IceSpike if, indeed, the woolly howl died. He rubbed the side of Nepta’s face, the scales felt exceptionally smooth like rocks polished by moving water, while he waited. Nepta burbled an amazing array of noises.

“Thinking about that, and I might have an idea. Might not work, but… here, Hasna, got stand over there,” Jack said as he set the girl down and pointed to where he wanted her to stand.

“Nepta!” She yelled while reaching out her hands.

It seemed children the world over quickly lost their fear dragons when confronted with a friendly variety. Both Hiccup and Jack watched her in amazement over the rapid transformation. Nepta lowered his enormous head and gentled butted the girl in the chest. She laughed and hugged the noggin as much as she could.

“Now, if that was a skrill or a whispering death…” Hiccup began to say.

“Stop right there. I got my fill of skrill way back when, and I thought you did, too,” Jack interjected.

Hiccup laughed. He stepped backward and sat on the floor of boat while cradling Biva. The boy also tried to continue touching the dragon. He then reached up and snagged Hasna by the waist and hauled her backward. She shouted in defiance and frustration. A small steam of words in her native tongue came flying out of her mouth, and both men could hear the curses underlying it. Hiccup, however, did not let go. He watched with keen interest. Nepta rose ten feet higher out of the water.

“He’s got be be at least fifty or sixty feet long from nose to tail,” Hiccup speculated.

Everyone watched the Earthling as he pulled aside the canopy from the prow. He fished around until he found the rope tied to cleat. He jerked it free. The Guardian faced the dragon and held up the rope. The dragon eyed him in the darkness. The head kept twitching toward the hand holding the coconut. Hiccup leaned back and decided to enjoy the show. He suspected Jack’s attempts to guide sea dragon would prove highly entertaining.

“Alright, so it worked,” Hiccup replied as dawned colored the rim of the world a muzzy clay. Hasna continued to sleep curled next to him and Biva toyed with a coconut, an object he could not neat but tried nonetheless. “Although it was pretty pocking funny at the start.”

A coconut landed next to Jack’s feet. He again carried out the pantomime of a palm tree swaying in the in the wind. The dragon turned and aimed in a true southern direction. Jack threw the coconut where the beast indicated and braced himself. The boat jerked violently when the rope held in the long and likely venomous teeth of the beast snapped tight and pulled the boat forward. Nepta would drag them through the water for roughly five minutes before it returned for another round. During the night, Hiccup and Jack traded places so they could each get some sleep. Nepta, it appeared, either did not require or want to rest. His love of the fetch and pull game seemed in exhaustible.

Jack rubbed his throwing arm shoulder and said: “We just needed to work out the mechanics.”

“I think Nepta liked pulling you into the ocean,” the Earthling’s husband rejoined with a smirk.

“Shut up,” Jack muttered, but he also grinned. “Any water left?”

Hiccup’s head swung back and forth. The children drank the last of it during the night as they watched the men coax the dragon into hauling them and the craft toward an unknown destination. The speed at which they traveled meant they covered roughly three hundred miles of open water. Several times an hour they checked their trajectory with the dragon, and Nepta gradually began to aim south. It seemed to know exactly where to go.

“You do know he moves at twice this speed under water?” The Viking repeated the calculation the made hours before, and he did it to annoy his mate.

“I know, I know,” the Guardian grumbled and watched as the water glide under them. “Wonder how far we’ve got to go?”

“Well, if Nepta travels twice our speed and managed to get to the coconuts and back to us in a single day, then – I don’t know – maybe we should be close. We’ve been heading due south for quite a while.”

Jack nodded his head. The dragon hauled them along somewhere between thirty to forty miles an hour. For nearly ten hours, the entirety of the night, they moved at a steady if somewhat herky-jerky pace. The endurance of the beast impressed both men to no end. The children lost their fascination of the process by the end of the first hour. Fortunately, sleep became and priority for the two and they spent most of the night in that state. When morning came, the lack of food and water would be issue for them. Neither man wanted to contemplate what either child could remember of their ill-fated trip that brought them into contact with the Berkians.

Fifteen minutes later Jack raised his sore arm and pointed at the southern horizon, the western edge tinged in hues of peach and rose as dawn began to make an appearance. The even horizon line got broken by something in the distance, and that something also managed to attract clouds. Hiccup stood. He trusted Jack’s better eyesight, but he scanned the area Jack pointed out. It took two more rounds with the dragon before he could finally discern the outline of land or an island in the distance. The man wrapped his arms around the thin chest of his husband, hugged it, and struggled to hold back tears. A lingering terror he would die at sea in the same manner as the children’s parents took root in his mind. The sight of land finally gave him relief from the horrible images in his head.

“Yeah, I know,” Jack quietly said as the boat came to a gliding halt in the water.

Nepta’s head popped out water and he all but tossed the coconut at Jack. Jack motioned for the dragon to come closer. It did. Soon the Guardian encircled the scaly, wet neck of the beast and hugged it. Nepta rumbled.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Jack repeated non-stop for half a minute as he, too, struggled to find proper expression for the relief he felt.

Hiccup raised a hand and stroked the side of the dragon’s face in a silent gesture of gratitude.

“Nepta,” Hasna’s sluggish voice intruded.

The men released the dragon, and Nepta stared at them for a few moments. Jack answered the look by retrieving a coconut and holding it up. The dragon backpedaled away from the boat in anticipation of another toss. Jack, buoyed by the sight of land, threw it as hard as he could toward the island. Nepta raced after it. Both men nearly fell down when the dragon snatched the line under the water and took them ever closer to the joyous sight in the distance. They seemed to move faster. Each ascribed the impression to their excitement at finding solid ground.

“You were right,” Hiccup said as they dragged the boat onto the beach half an hour later. “There. Trees Nepta can get to.”

Further down the edge of the rather sizable island they saw palm trees leaning over the water. Gray-brown oblong objects twice the overall size of coconuts nestled in the crown of large fronds. Jack nodded as he pulled the children from the boat. Hasna stood and ran her toes through the sand as though she never saw anything like it. Biva squirmed and wriggled in very dark and rather abrasive grains. Jack, himself, repeated Hasna’s actions. His toes dug into the beach. He resisted the urge to drop down and kiss the sand as he saw in numerous movies on Earth.

Hiccup scanned up and down the length of the quay as his logical mind came into play. He immediately began to think about food, shelter, and water. In the background, Nepta splashed in the shallow water, holding himself aloft on long, wide fin-like appendages. It looked longingly at them. While Hasna teased her brother who could not move well through the sand, jack waded out into the water. It grew deep and soon he stood with his armpits getting soaked. Nepta floated toward him. He raised and arm. The dragon dropped a coconut from it’s mouth. The man laughed.

The more practical of the two men, as his nature dictated, already selected small grove of fat, short palms they could use for temporary cover while they tried to build anything close to a hut. His eyes also looked for water trace. That remained a top priority for Hiccup. Without thinking about it, he scooped Biva from the sand, followed by protests from Hasna that her play got disrupted, and walked toward the edge of the thin forest of trees roughly fifty feet from the shoreline. In the distance he heard Nepta splash around as he gave chase to the coconut. Jack did the right thing, he thought: Nepta deserved a much bigger reward for taking them to the island.

Jack joined his mate half an hour later. The sun baked him and he yearned for liquid. The warm waters of the sea did not help his condition, but the Guardian wanted the dragon to enjoy some real play following all the work it did on behalf of the people. As he approached the trio lounging under a tree, Hiccup smiled at him.

“Ja!” Hasna yelled, ran a short ways, and then tripped in the sand. She got up, streamers of the dark grit rolling from body, and continued her trek. When Hasna reached the man, she grabbed his hand. “Wa! Wa!”

“Follow her,” Hiccup suggested.

Jack did. For over twenty feet Hasna led him into the thicket. Soon they passed a stand of odd trees the man never saw on either Earth or Hall. Then the girl let go of his hand and ran to a small formation of rocks. Jack spied the discoloration on the jungle-style dirt. Hasna lifted a large piece of glass-like rock, and the man took note of that bit of detail. A trickle of water began to ebb from the surface of a stone through a crack. The Guardian wracked his brain to recall how water pockets formed on tropical islands. However, he dropped to his knees and scooted toward the small flow of water.

“Thanks, Hasna,” he said before lowering his lips to the crack in the surface of the stone.

His body reacted nearly with violence as he began to drink and then sucked as hard as he could on the rock. Water filled his mouth. While it tasted oddly dry and felt warm, he knew it to be potable. For five minutes he knelt and drank his fill. Hasna giggled at him, and he could guess she witnessed a very similar act not long before. When Jack finished, mainly because he started to run out of breath, Hasna repeated his action in not quite as feral a fashion. The presence of an artesinal well sparked memories of program Jack saw on a television some forty-five years before about mid-Pacific atolls. One bit of information came to the surface.

“Come on, Hasna, we need to go tell Hiccup we’re sitting on an old volcano,” he told the girl.

“Hic-ah,” Hasna said when she lifted her wet face from the well after taking over once Jack finished.

Jack replaced the stone over the bubbling crack, and it seemed like a good idea. Something about natural pressure rolled through his brain as he took the girl’s hand for a second time. She led him back to the beach. They found Hiccup lying under a tree, a pile of discarded fruit rinds – something the Hallan’s called plengs that displayed garish pink color but tasted like mangoes to Jack – lying next to him. Biva gnawed on one and pink juice rand down his face.

“Gonna get diarrhea,” Jack warned, but it did not stop him from accepting the proffered fruit. “Gods, these are huge.”

“Never saw plengs this big before, and I almost didn’t think it was one,” the supine man stated. Then he looked at Jack. “You and Nepta saved us.”

“You’re the one who figured out he wanted to play,” Jack rapidly amended, “so it took both of us.”

“And so far, so good. We got water and food. I’ll try to catch some fish later.”

“How far did you explore?”

“Not far once I found the spring,” Hiccup said through a smirk. “Biva watched me drink and then repeated it. He’s going to wet half the island when he finally lets loose.”

Jack sat down in the sand under the shade of a stubby, broad-leafed palm. He used his teeth to bit into the pleng and peel away a stripe of rind. Just the juices alone made his stomach rumble. The Earthling greedily ate the entire fruit.

“Never tasted like this on Berk,” he commented while smearing juice and pulp around on his face with the back of his hand. “Bet the don’t last long once they turn ripe.”

Hiccup propped himself up on his elbows. The shade and warm sand, coupled with the full feeling his belly, worked a form of alchemy in the Viking. He felt relaxed. Hasna leaned against him and her eyes closed. Biva played with a series of twigs and sand, and the sand stuck to every part of him coated in pleng. They made for a quiet yet joyous little quartet. Jack glanced at Hiccup, and he got a similar gaze.

“And now?” Jack inquired.

“We survive. Use our wits and figure out a way to get back home,” Hiccup replied in a stern. His face then softened. “I’m probably going to fall asleep soon. Bet your asleep on your feet?”

Jack shook head back and forth and said: “Not really. This is… nice, but new… strange. I’m going to walk around for a while.”

“Care to take the sticky one with you?”

“I’ll dip him in the ocean and clean him up.”

Hiccup chuckled, but Jack remained serious.

“What?” The Viking asked.

“We’re still not out of it,” replied the Guardian. “We don’t know where we are. We don’t know if any ships come this way. We don’t know what’s on this island and… now we’ve got children to look after.”

“True, but that kept me sane,” Hiccup remarked without pause.

“Yeah, me, too,” Jack said through a sigh and nearly feared making the admission. “It was easier to worry about them than us, and – you know – it kind of felt… familiar.”

Hiccup turned his head to the side and looked at the girl slowly drifting into a nap. He gazed at the Earthling before he said: “It’s who you are, Jack. Guardian. Children. Sort of goes to the core of your being. Right?”

“Never like this, Hiccup. Protecting children from things that go bump in the night is one thing. Once I vanquish whatever is bothering them, I don’t hang around long. Caring for Hasna…”

“Ja,” Hasna sleepy answered.

“And Biva is all day, every day. It’s more involved than looking after dragons,” the brown-haired-now-sun-streaked-to-near-russet man quietly stated.

“Yeah, I guess it is, but we can’t stop. Not after how we found them.”

“I know, but….”

Hiccup waited for a few seconds and then prodded his mate: “Out with it, Jack.”

“Ja,” Hasna mumbled again.

“See… Hiccup…”

“Hic-ah,” Hasna whisper and nuzzled up against the man.

“If I fail this time, it won’t be that they can’t fall asleep for a night or two. They could…” and Jack froze before he could say the word.

“It’s part of being mortal, Jack. You know that… just like you know every time we fly against a raid one or both of us might not come back. Gods, we couldn’t even go away and relax for a while without something trying to kill us,” the Viking harrumphed.

“But we’re adults and we know the risks we run,” the Guardian countered. “Not them. I’ve seen it too often on Earth and here where kids are at the mercy of whatever is around them… good or bad!”

Hiccup sat up. Hasna rolled over and seemed to fall deeper into her nap. The native Hallan looked at the adopted son of his world. It dawned on him Jack faced a different reality with children: one where he could not depend on his powers to turn the tide. Jack, Hiccup realized, confronted the limitations and attending uncertainties that came with a mortal life. It arrived in the faces of two children who suddenly looked to him for real protection against a very real world filled with real dangers and threats.

“It doesn’t take your Guardian powers to do right by them,” the Viking rejoined in a solemn voice. “This is the world you never got to experience, Jack. The addition of these two makes it… more personal.”

“Maybe, but we still owe them the best we can do. We took this on. They didn’t ask,” Jack reminded him.

“No argument there, and maybe that’s what you’re really afraid of.”

“Of what?”

“Of life handing you a job you’re afraid you might fail at,” Hiccup said without any hint of judgment. “Gods, Jack, it scares the pocking wits out of me, too. I only got over trying to live up to my father a couple of years ago, and now it’s like I’m right back to where I started when I first found Toothless. Now I’ve got to measure up to what he was both as a father and a chieftain!”

“He wasn’t all the great of a father, Hiccup, to be honest,” Jack muttered.

“At least he talked to me. Sometimes too much and didn’t do enough listening,” his mate returned with a touch of heat in his voice.

“You want to compare Stoick to The Man in the Moon?”

Their eyes locked. Both saw they verged on getting into a fight over a rather pointless issue. Hiccup felt his sense of duty and pride to Stoick the Vast try to egg him on. The absurdity of weighing his father against Elada hit him, and he shook his head.

“No, and I’m not even sure why we suddenly need to get into a debate or an argument,” Hiccup conceded.

Jack sighed. He squatted and seized a sandy, sticky probably one-year old. Biva squealed in protest against being disrupted from his play. Jack held the boy out and studied the brown face and dark eyes. Biva squirmed, but he returned the gaze.

“Maybe it’s ‘cause you’re right. I’m scared to death of letting either one of these two down or failing them in some way,” the Guardian uttered.

“Well, at least I’m not alone in the club.”

The two men glanced at one another. The moment did not seem or sound humorous in any capacity. Jack pulled Biva to his side and let his head bob twice. Hiccup wrapped his arm around the sleeping girl. He nodded as well.


	11. Chapter 11

It only took a couple of able-bodied men with a real sense of purpose to construct a base camp on the island. While towing children along they explored at least a mile in either direction of where the quartet landed and found the distance covered about two three-fifths of the perimeter. Hasna and Biva took great delight in investigating the flotsam thrown up in the shore and, via their inquisitiveness, the adults started to notice a rather usable quantity of items from the detritus of other shipwrecks. They even found a small tool kit likely used by sailor to make repairs at sea. Thus, it only took them a few days to assemble enough building material to begin construction of a more permanent structure. Between Hiccup’s and Jack’s skills, they made short work of the initial build, and during the following days they made improvements. By the end of the first week they made a relatively safe and secure house.

No matter where they went on the beach, Nepta followed along. Both men took turns playing with the sea dragon who, as they both freely admitted, saved their lives. The children would sit on the beach near a slightly deep inlet and throw items for Nepta to chase. Hasna fell into the water once, and the dragon neatly plucked her from the ocean before either man managed to run three steps. The act appeared perfectly natural to the beast and they guessed he provided the service for others in the past. Nepta also proved used in finding the best places to fish, mainly by virtue that wherever he hunted, the fish swam in the opposite direction. They landed enough seafood to offset the diet of fruit and vegetables they found growing around their hut. Through it all, they reserved the coconuts for the dragon.

“We’ve got to start exploring the interior of the island,” Hiccup told Jack during the evening of their fifteenth day after their arrival. He rocked Biva in his arms while Jack played building a tower with Hasna.

“Because…?” The Earthling implored while trying to add a stick without knocking over the tower.

“Two reason: first, we don’t know what else might be on this island… and I’m talking about living things.”

“Good point.”

“Second, we might find someplace safer to lay up if a storm comes our way,” stated Hiccup and he glanced out the window.

“That was only a rain shower,” his mate intoned.

“And the one that sunk the Island Miss?”

Jack’s head snapped up, and the movement caused the tower to fall since it rocked the makeshift table. Hasna giggled. However, an image of IceSpike sinking to her her doom flashed through Jack’s mind. The little girl poked his arm with a pudgy brown finger.

“Ja bad,” she muttered with delight.

“No,” he droned at her as he managed to wrest himself free from the terrible mental picture. “Ja is good. It’s the tower that’s bad.”

“Ja bad,” Hasna snickered a second time.

“Jack, if we’re caught on this beach during a storm like that…”

“I know, I know,” the Guardian interjected. “So we start looking inland for a storm shelter.”

“Thank you,” Hiccup said, but did not sound entirely grateful.

He sat on a reinforced crate he used as a chair. Biva burbled in his near unconscious state. The children adapted remarkably well to their often unusual circumstances. It proved to both men the resiliency of children, a fact Jack repeated whenever he could. The boy’s wardrobe, like the rest of the members of their party, got augmented by what they found among the debris. The eastern side of the island seem to collect the most detritus, and it confirmed for Jack what he understood about he Coriolis Effect of Halla. It also meant they could expect the worst storms to arrive from that direction. Hiccup’s plan made sense on many levels. Jack, however, wanted a few days to simply relax without an overriding feel of danger or immediate threat.

“We’ll find higher ground further in. This is an old volcano,” Jack repeated the fact.

“You’ve said the a lot, and we both agree it’s not active, so what’s the point?” Hiccup asked.

“Caves.”

Hiccup nodded. He watched as Hasna delicately laid a stick on the new tower. He and Jack both noted several times her obviously fierce and rampant intelligence. Already she began to adopt the Berkian language, and the adults took to speaking with the children in more or less complete sentences. Only in her sleep did she babble in her native tongue. Jack repeatedly informed Hiccup he did not recall the language from his tenure as Isemaler. He speculated the children came from a hot or tropical environment or someplace without ice and snow. They did not seem to mind the routinely intense heat and high humidity that greeted the quartet each day since they arrived.

“And that’s why I want to go looking… but caves…”

“We’d have seen or heard a whispering death by now,” the Earthling replied when the Hallan trailed off into an incomprehensible mumble.

“Ja go!” Hasna imperiously demanded when the man sat staring at his mate.

“Don’t rush me, sweet girl,” he delicately reprimanded her.

Hasna watched with intense interest as he placed a stick on the growing tower. He could tell she wanted him to knock it over again. When her expectation went wanting, she frowned. Jack smiled at her. Hasna’s scowl deepened, but he did not see any true anger in her gesture.

“Hasna go!” He demanded just as she did.

“Ja!” She rebutted.

“What is it with you two? Huh? Why does she love to compete with you?” Hiccup quietly questioned from he seat we he held the sleeping boy.

“It’s part of the nature of play. It’s also how we learn to find our place and role in society. Hasna is discovering what she’s capable of doing… and the extent of her patience,” Jack explained as if he read from a book, which he did at Nick’s castle when he found a volume on child development and psychology.

“Sounds reasonable.”

“And don’t think for a second she’s not competing with you when you go out fishing. Just watcher her face. She wants to learn to cast like you do so bad it’s killing her, Hiccup.”

Hiccup appeared surprised.

“Seriously, watch how she acts and reacts. She can’t stand it when you land a bigger fish than her,” Jack told his husband.

Hiccup bobbed his head as he thought about it. Hasna seemed addicted to following him around as they fished and foraged for other food. He never saw it as a competition, but Jack put a different idea into his head. The Viking wanted her to learn for a myriad of reasons, and, equally, he did not want to sully their time together with resentment. The man rocked Biva as he thought.

“Honestly, you Vikings never thought about child-rearing and the different ways it can be accomplished?”

“My dad told me once his father asked him to go smash his head on a rock until the rock broke, and he claimed he did without question? Remember what Gobber said about that?” Hiccup answered.

“Gobber was not always the best source of information. Did you forget about the sock trolls and yak leeches?” Countered Jack.

Hiccup chuckled. The fish oil lamp guttered and sputtered and provided a small halo of yellow light around which they sat. The night enveloped the world in darkness, and the countless stars in the sky made for a surreal show. Nocturnal birds and insects set up a small din to their rear while the ocean in the fore created a hiss as the waves raced up and down the beach. Except for the manner of their arrival, it seemed almost idyllic.

“The yak leeches were real even if they were dragons. Who knew terrible terrors liked yak milk?”

Both men shrugged in amusement. Neither confessed to the feeling of homesickness the mention of loved ones or Berk itself generated in them. The memories became precious since they could not predict how they would ever return. Without at least one dragon who know how to get to Berk, their prospects remained extremely limited. Nepta, while as fine a dragon one could find, could not aid them as he did with discovering the island. The mood subtly shifted in the silence. Jack laid another stick on the tower a second before Hasna could prod him.

“So we head out at daybreak?” Hiccup prompted after a couple of minutes of silence.

“After a game of fetch with Nepta. I don’t want him to beach himself again trying to follow us. Do you want to toss the coconut or pack for the adventure?” Jack responded.

“Switch arms every once in a while. I like what playing in the ocean with Nepta is doing for you.”

Jack rolled his eyes, but he felt his cheeks heat up at the compliment. His blood stirred. The addition of the children meant they need to be courteous about their adults wants. Only once did they manage to physically enjoy one another since the completion of the hut. Each missed lying naked against the other.

By mid-morning the quartet made their way further into the interior of the island. Jack spent an hour right at sun-up playing catch with the dragon, and the beast seemed satisfied with the session. It watched them depart, and they heard Nepta swimming away to some place. Hiccup prepared for the trip. It also gave the Viking certain prerogatives, and the choice of food they would eat figured right at the top of his list. Too much time at sea seemed to dull his like of fish, but Jack did not think such a heavy fruit diet would do them well over time. As it stood Hasna already began to treat all of the outside world a giant privy. Biva seemed fully prepared to follow the same route. Thus, the Earthling grumbled to himself as he walked along holding the boy on his hip.

“What in the name of Wotan?” Hiccup said after half an hour of hacking through vegetation with sticks and swatting away insect. He stopped and looked at the ground.

“Whoa,” Jack muttered when he saw what grabbed his mate’s attention. “That’s not a dragon.”

“At least none we’ve ever seen.”

“It’s only got four toes, and every dragon – even Nepta – is pendactyl in one form or another. This one has two in front and two in back. Bet it climbs.”

Hiccup twisted his head, raised his eyebrows, and asked: “Pen what?”

“Five toed,” the Guardian rejoined. “And it’s got a thick tail.”

“Pockers.”

The two men stood examining the tracks and trail left by whatever creature made it. Just by the markings left on the ground and the fact they did not see much broken bramble, it seemed a low-slung beast. The span of the claw print outstripped Hiccup’s rather large foot. Jack looked at the few prints they could find and did some quick mental calculations.

“There’s about twelve feet between the right and left tracks, so add a tail, a big one, and we’re looking at least twenty, twenty-five feet,” he spoke aloud his figuring.

“No wings marks. Must keep ‘em furled tight on it’s back. Might not even use ‘em ‘cause we’d’ve notice something flying through the air. Could be a tunneler,” the Viking added his thoughts.

The adults shot each other a wary glance. Jack shook his head as other thoughts intruded. Hiccup waited for his husband to sort out his ideas. Around them bugs buzzed and made a wild assortment of noises. Off a ways and higher up they heard birds. The ever-present breeze coming off the ocean rustled the wide fronds of the tropical trees. Greens in hues and shades not seen in the north filled their vision, along with the sprays of color from the blooming varieties and flowers. It would seem an idyllic place to land, but the tracks of an unknown beast gave them pause.

“Jack?” Hiccup pressed when when the man did not speak.

“There’s no other animal life except birds and whatever lives in the waters around the island,” he stated. “But I don’t think this is a tunneler.”

“Why?”

“We’re looking at its tracks. It hides in the greenery. It stalks and pounces.”

With those words, each man turned in a small circle and scanned the area. Hiccup’s arm shot out and hauled Hasna closed to him. It disrupted her investigation of a broad-leafed plant.

“Hic-ah, no!” She complained.

Hiccup squatted. He pointed to the tracks on the ground. Hasna, ever willing to imitate the man’s actions, squatted as well. She actively observed the prints on the ground.

“That’s something big, Hasna. Something big and probably bad,” he told the girl.”

“Bad?” She inquired and gave him a quizzical stare.

The Viking used his hands to imitate the the jaws of a beast.

“Nepta. Nepta good,” Hasna answered the motion.

“This is not Nepta. Nepta stays in the water and swims,” he replied and did a fair approximation of the dragon’s aquatic motions. “This crawls.”

Jack watched the pantomime with the same attention he would give a documentary on Earth. His husband clearly displayed a knack for imitating dragons, and then he thought better of it. Hiccup spent nearly twenty years working with and training others to deal with dragons. It made sense he could imitate a dragon with decent accuracy.

“No Nepta?” Hasna asked the important question.

“Not Nepta,” he confirmed and slid an arm around he small shoulders. “Nepta is in the water.”

“Hmm,” she hummed in thought.

“She gets it,” Jack said in a pleased voice.

“I hope so, because if we’re looking at a hunter then none of us are safe.”

From there they continued their exploration, albeit with great caution and wariness. Hasna did seem to understand as she stuck very close to Hiccup. The ground under the feet gradually angled upward. Jack told them they started to climb the sides of the old volcano. However, the incline did not increase at a rapid rate. The brush and trees obscured the sight line on either side, so neither man could make any estimation of how high they climbed. Since the palms towered over their heads, it did not give them an opportunity to look behind and to check their progress. Given the overall size of the island, it lead to a single conclusion in the Guardian’s mind.

“We’re not going to find any caves… or at least any usable ones,” he finally announced after another twenty minutes of walking. “This is an old, old volcano. It’s probably been dormant for millennia… and it’s been ground down to a stub.”

“Alright,” Hiccup agreed as he vigorously scanned the surrounding greenery. “Let’s head back. It’ll be time for lunch by the time we get to the hut.”

“Mind if we swap? My arm feels like it’s going to fall off,” Jack requested.

Hiccup held out his arms and the Earthling deposited the squirming child. Hasna glanced up at the Viking. He smiled at her.

“You’re probably safer with him,” He gently told her and rubbed her head with a free hand.

“Come on, sweet girl,” Jack intoned and held out his hand.

Hasna reluctantly left Hiccup’s side. She took his hand, and Jack tried as hard as he could to will some of his deeply buried magic to ripple through his hands. He felt nothing, but chuckled nonetheless at his own failed attempt. Not since the day of the Island Miss went down did he sense even a twinge of power.

“Oh, the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round,” the Guardian sang to her.

“What in the name of Wotan is a bus?” Hiccup snickered his question.

“Like a long boat on wheels used to haul people around. Remember those huge yellow things you saw in Juno that made Toothless nervous?”

“That’s a bus? And you feed children to them?”

Jack nodded and smirked at the phrasing.

“How in blazes did you people ever survive?” Hiccup asked with a touch of both mock and real asperity.

“Not for lack of trying to do ourselves in. We’re just really, really hard to kill off.”

The Viking shook his head from side to side as he marched forward and down the gentle slope of the old mountain. Jack chuckled again and followed in his husband’s wake. He held tightly to Hasna’s hand. Then he launched back into the song the girl would never understand and Hiccup could only partially figure out. After all, he alone of all the Hallans ever visited another planet.

Neither man talked much as they headed back for their compound. They did, however, stumble across another small artesian well that bubbled to surface, flowed a short ways, and then disappeared into barely noticeable crevice further down the hill. They made note of its location. Not far from the well they found more sets of prints from the unknown creature that shared the island with them. It made sense since everything needed to drink water. It reinforced their silence as their vigilance got piqued by the new tracks.

“We need to make weapons,” Hiccup recommended after doling out lightly cooked fish rolled in toasted coconut. He and Jack silently prepare lunch when they got to the hut.

“This is good,” Jack remarked as he tore off small hunks and gave it to Biva.

Hasna crammed a huge chunk into her mouth.

“Hasna!” Hiccup chided her.

“Hungee,” she murmured around the food.

“You’re going to choke. Small bites,” the man gently upbraided her and demonstrated.

“Hungee,” the girl rumbled a second time.

The man tried to hide their grins.

“She’s learning our language so fast,” Hiccup noted and took another bite of fish before Hasna could snatch it from his dining mat.

“Hiccup…”

“Hic-ah,” the girl muttered his name while eyeing his food.

“You never noticed children all seem to begin to talk at the same time? It’s hardwired into the brain. All children everywhere, even on Earth, go through similar phases of language learning,” Jack recalled, and once more sound as if he read out of a book.

“I guess. I just… yeah, that makes sense. Where do the words come from?” The Viking queried. “Are they already in their heads?”

“If that was true, wouldn’t she be speaking the language of her parents?”

The Earthling tipped his head toward the girl.

“Huh. Maybe we need to pay more attention back on Berk.”

“Wouldn’t hurt… and write it down. You people don’t write enough. How do you expect to preserve knowledge?” Jack chided his mate as he fed more fish to the boy who yammered for more.

“So you’re notebooks in the shop…?” Hiccup lead him on.

“Snotlout and me exchange ideas… tips and tricks. It improves both of our skills, and,” the Earthling said while raising a single eyebrow, “if we build a new woodshop and I take on apprentices, it’ll help them learn as well. This way they won’t just have to watch me all the time… or Snotlout.”

“Okay, so maybe me, Mouldy and Farb need to do the same thing.”

“Makes teaching easier,” Jack responded and then looked down at the children. “We need to figure out what we need to teach her… and Biva when he gets older.”

“Beev,” Hasna said while one hand slowly crept toward Hiccup’s mat.

“Grrr!” Hiccup loudly growled at her and made a feint in her direction.

Hasna squealed and pulled her hand back. She brightly laughed in amusement at the adult’s antics. Jack again marveled at how quickly Hiccup adjusted his demeanor when interacting with the girl. It showed hidden and untested depths to the man. The Guardian smiled both inwardly and outwardly.

“It’s not that amazing,” Hiccup said and appeared to be reading Jack’s mind. “Rearing a new set of dragon riders isn’t too far from this.”

Jack bust out laughing at the comparison. He, too, suffered the task of training new riders while completely forgetting his own misfortunes when fist bonding with IceSpike. The Guardian sighed and pushed aside the sadness that wanted to overwhelm. Hiccup watched him with growing concern.

“I understand why Snotlout turned to drink. This is… difficult isn’t a good enough word. I think about her all the time, and when I close my eyes at night…” the Guardian explained and trailed off.

“I know, and you so much stronger than me, Jack. I’d… gods, I’d be… I don’t…” the Viking tried to express the dark thoughts that crept into his mind.

“I wouldn’t let you go that far. Just like I know you’re doing for me, Hiccup… and I never, ever want to have watch you go through this,” Jack quietly said and stared at the messy face of the boy whose hands patted around the dinner mat looking for more fish. The man handed him a half eaten piece of his own. “Toothless is out there waiting to find you. But what I want to know is how do we get so attached to the dragons?”

“Think of how much time we spend with them. We depend on the dragons and they depend on us. We face dangers together. We live and die together. Wouldn’t it make less sense if we didn’t become so attached?”

Jack slowly nodded his head. He slid a piece of fish over to Hasna who looked at him with great expectation in her eyes. She giggled and said a word in her first language.

“You’re welcome,” he told her.

“Ll-comb,” she mumbled through a mostly full mouth.

“Gods, you’d think she was born on Berk with the way she eats. I’d watch my fingers if I were you, Hiccup.”

The Viking snickered.

After cleaning up the small mess from lunch, the four humans went in search of the wreckage washed up on the eastern side of the island. Hiccup held Biva’s hands, and the boy made every effort to walk on two legs. He did remarkably well considering the very soon-to-be toddler made the attempt on sand. Hasna busied herself by playing catch with Nepta. Even though she could not throw very far, the dragon seemed to enjoy the play. Periodically Jack would take the coconut and throw far out into the water. The dragon would burble and then dive below the surface to go in chase.

They spent several hours picking through the debris of ships torn apart by the wild storms at sea. They found even more useful items, and Hiccup even discovered the blade of a sword, the grip long since gone to rot, and it promised many nights worth of work to remove the rust, salt, and scale. Between them, and that included Hasna who picked through the detritus as well, they found enough scraps of metal to serve as blades of spears and, with some sharpening, knives. After a while Hiccup sidled up to him, Hasna sidled up to Hiccup, and Jack kept Biva from playing on the rocks. The senior dragon rider seemed puzzled.

“Jack, when we were on Traitor’s Cabin, there were lots of bones,” Hiccup began.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing the last time we came out here. Where are the bones?” Jack jumped headlong into the topic.

“I can’t even find one!”

The two men glanced around, and the girl imitated them.

“Maybe bodies didn’t wash up. They could get eaten at sea long before getting close to the island,” Jack theorized.

“Un-uh. I can’t believe that. At least one person at some time had to make it here alive. Where’s all that stuff you say about odds?” Hiccup challenged.

Around them surf crashed into the shoals on the eastern shore and rocks. The water glittered as it arched through air. Nepta swam out a ways, and that meant he could not make it to land. The birds flying overhead squawked from time to time. Insects added their chatter. Again the absence of ground-dwelling life unnerved the two. They both took a peak at vegetation thirty feet away. The normal sussura of foliage brushing against itself could not be heard over the breaking wave.

“We need to be careful,” Hiccup quietly said.

“Agreed,” Jack sternly replied. “It sounds so… so… strange to say I’d feel better if I saw human bones.”

“Well, there aren’t any, so let’s focus on finding what we can. Something tells me whatever it is that’s in there isn’t the friendliest of sorts. I mean, look at how wild dragons react to people. Even if they’re angry we’re around, at least they show themselves.”

“Stealth hunter.”

The Viking nodded, and the silent confirmation gave Jack a chill of a type he did not like. He looked at the children. Hasna continued to poke and prod around the various bits of ship that got smashed on the island shoals. Biva played in the dark sand that sparkled in the sun. It looked serene, yet to the adults it became deceptive. They continued their hunt for usable metal and whatever else they could find.

When they returned to the hut carrying sacks made from old sails and filled with their haul, the two decided to fortify their local area. They would remove vegetation from around the dwelling for at least twenty feet so whatever lurked in the forest would find ambush cover lacking. Then they planned on sharpening sticks and wedging them in the ground. It would impede the progress of anything coming near them. Furthermore, Jack hit on the idea of stringing an assortment of broken glass and useless metal between the sticks. While it would not be loud, the arrangement would provide an early warning system. Hiccup fixed their meal, an interesting turn of events since Jack usually cooked on Berk, and both children gathered excitedly about the table Jack constructed form the remains of a large spindle.

“Too bad we can’t find any volcanic glass. You know that stuff is sharp,” the Earthling commented as he set about cutting up Biva’s food. For the past several days the boy took to feeding himself with the predictable messy results. “Plus we could use it for knives… maybe even an axe.”

“Why wouldn’t there be any?” Hiccup asked as he glared at Hasna to stop her from cramming as much food into her mouth as she could.

“Hun… gee,” she mumbled through her overstuffed mouth.

“I think the beach is made up mostly of old obsidian… volcanic glass…” the Guardian added and used a Earth word.

“I like that word obsidian. Better than raven-eye glass,” the Viking quipped.

“Whatever remains is probably buried under in the ground. If we went in to the jungle and started digging around, we might locate a few old pieces,” Jack speculated aloud.

“Is is worth the risk?”

The two mates quietly chewed and glanced at one another. Without the children they could try hunting the beast. Inside the hut, with walls made from woven palm fronds secured to bamboo-like posts by rope twisted from the same material as the walls. It would not protect them from a storm, but it would provide an initial barrier from overly-curious animals, not counting small lizards and snakes, and more gentle winds. However, the total absence of larger creatures seemed a warning.

“Maybe, if we can figure out the movements of whatever that thing is. If it climbs like the toes suggest it can, then we’ve got to be watching above us as well. If it’s colored green in any way…”

“The pocking thing would be almost invisible,” Hiccup finished in an angry rasp. Hasna looked up at him with a worried look. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Not you, Sweets.”

The Hallan adopted some of the pet names Jack used that he learned on Earth. Wiggle Worm tended to be the favorite for Biva, although Hiccup called him Crap Forge whenever he changed the boy’s diaper. It proved the man could not entirely rid himself of some the more repellent Viking traditions. In the absence of Toothless, Jack heard the Viking use the term Bud with Biva a few times. It revealed the man’s growing attachment. In the same vein the Guardian privately admitted he, too, came to care about the children an inordinate amount compared the the children of their friends. Pulling them from the reach of Aita’s song deeply affected the Earthling, and he counted it as a much needed win over the ancient entity.

“Even if we don’t find any obsibidian…”

“Ob-sid-ian,” Jack carefully pronounced the word.

“Obsid… ian, we still need to get the other preparations done. At least one good thing came out of looking for a cave,” Hiccup stated.

“Ibby-sibby,” Hasna gave saying the word her best shot after she swallowed.

“Ob… “Jack said and leaned forward so she could watch his lips. “Ob.”

“Ahb,” the girl repeated while her brother threw a piece of fish across the hut.

“Sid… sssss-iddd.”

“Seed,” Hasna imitated the word, and both men heard her accent.

“Ee… an. Ee… an,” the Earthling completed the phonetic breakdown.

“Dee-ahn. Dee—ahn,” Hasna carefully mouthed.

“Ob-sid-ian,” Jack slowly said the word and elaborated on the syllable.

“Ahb… seed.. dee-ahn.”

“Obsidian.”

“Ahbseed… dea-ahn. Ahbseed-dee-ahn,” the girl repeated twice.

“You know this means trouble for us?” Hiccup inquired.

“In what way?” Jack counter-questioned as he said back.

Hasna stared at the small tabletop while she repeated the word several times. She made it sound far more melodious than Jack. The inflection of the first language she started to learn came through.

“If she’s this smart and is learning our language this fast… and wants to learn, what else is she going to learn from us that we don’t mean to teach her?”

Twice the specter of Hasna’s unquenchable curiosity and intelligence got raised, and it did not bode well for the adults. The girl’s brain, like most children, became a veritable sponge of huge proportions. The rate at which she adopted words she heard the two man frequently say became readily apparent with each passing day. Soon Biva would join her and, if he bore the same mental capabilities, would compound both learnings curve for both of them. It would mean the men would need to watch what they said and also monitor some of their behavior.

“Oh, gods, we are in for so much trouble,” the Earthling concurred while faux look of horror passed over his face.

Hiccup chuckled and replied: “At least a little. We shouldn’t create new personalities for them. They deserve to get to know us the same way we get to know them, and I’m pretty sure they’re not putting on some sort of show.”

“Excellent point. Let’s just be ourselves and see what they make of it.”

“And we need to teach them like you did just now. She really loved that.”

“Hasna liked the attention,” Jack muttered.

“Maybe, but she liked learning the word. Ever think she might want to talk to us?”

Jack opened his mouth, but then his brain told him to shut it before he said anything stupid. He knew both elementals, humans, and mysticals all expressed a need to communicate. Hiccup indirectly pointed it out. While humans excelled at verbal exchanges, other creatures also communicated and passed on those communication skills to their young. He glanced out the small window they in the direction of the sea and the water dragon that took a fancy to them. Nepta communicated with them and in such a way that he found playmates he so desperately seemed to need. Aside from playing catch and letting him enjoy the children the shallows, they did not physically maintain for the beast. However, both the Earthling and the Hallan never lacked in understanding the dragon. The thought brought IceSpike to mind again.

“Once, when I was a mortal child, I remember an older woman who used to stop by the house when my mom was pregnant with my sister. They would talk, and I never understood a word they said. It used to make me angry. Before that woman left, she’d always give me a sugar nib and tell me I was a good boy,” Jack spoke to the memory of his dragon as if somehow revealing what little he remember of his Earth childhood might ease the pain. “It wasn’t ‘til about a hundred years later I figured out they spoke in code about my mom being pregnant and everything that went along with it. The funny part is it still makes me angry they wouldn’t speak openly in front of me.”

“So does that mean we talk openly in front of the children?” Hiccup inquired.

Biva’s hands slapped the small table looking for more fish. Hasna gave him part of a piece Hiccup set aside as he talked. Both men grinned. While on one hand she acted in a naughty manner by their normal standards, she also displayed filial loyalty. The boy began gnawing on the piece of meat as soon as it got into his messy hands.

“Beev hungee,” Hasna said as though she needed to explain her actions.

“Yeah, he’s hungry,” the Viking softly replied and ruffled her hair.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, don’t we?” Jack inquired, and his question covered a variety of topics.

Hiccup nodded and answered: “You were right: it’s not just about us anymore. They need us, and we made that deal when we pulled them out of the boat. It’s not that much different from when I shot Toothless out of the sky.”

“You’re actually comparing children to dragons?”

“Sure,” the Viking said and grinned. “It’s a lifelong commitment, isn’t it?”

“Lifelong,” Jack whispered and two tears rolled out of his eyes.

“Ja?” Hasna said his name in a clear question.

“It’s okay, Hasna. I’m just remembering. I need to remember… maybe I need to learn how not to forget.”

“I don’t think anything slips out of that head of yours,” Hiccup quipped.

“My childhood?” Jack countered.

“Not your fault. Nick and Toothania told me about teeth magic… and with how you got to be Jack Frost, I’m surprised you can remember anything before you came out of that lake. Since no one could see or talk to you, no one could remind you of who you were… are.”

Jack gazed at his mate in wonder.

“I’m not entirely stupid,” the man grumbled.

“Not thinking that,” the other man rejoined. “Never thought before that we need people around use to help us keep… I guess the mental shape of ourselves. That’s part of what the Guardians do for each other. Sheesh, Bunny won’t ever let me forget about the blizzard of sixty-eight, and that was ages ago!”

“They’re your family…”

“And family never forgets.”

Together they looked at the children.

“We’re their family now, aren’t we?” Jack asked the question to which he already knew the answer.


	12. Chapter 12

Trying to fortify a hut made of palm fronds and situated on sand did not prove an easy task. They could not create stakes long enough to hit solid ground, but did find firmer sand. Jack worked on assembling the wooden spikes along a central piece, much like the Vietnamese did during the Vietnam War. He muttered the name of the trap to himself as he worked. Hasna sat between his legs and handed him a new spike each time he asked for one. Inside the hut Hiccup sat at the table weaving rope out of fond fibers he pulled out as long threads. The tedious task would, they hoped, yield a netting they could place over the roof and along walls. Thus, if anything got past the punji traps Jack prepared, it would get caught in the net if it tried to burst through a wall.

“Jack!” Hiccup yelled.

“What?” The Guardian yelled in return.

“We need to pull more strands.”

“This is worse than when we made the portal trap for Etuuchand!”

“Tell that to me when you get a set of fine scars on your arms and hands from where you got burned pulling more wire than I care to remember,” Hiccup fired back.

The slender man with medium brown hair, tanned skin, and warm, liquid-brown eyes stepped into the hut. His now tattered britches hung loosely on his hips, and he wore no shirt. A two-year old girl, or so they estimated, trailed behind him carrying a sharpened stick. Her long, black hair fell to nearly the middle of her back, skin sun-darkened to almost black, and eyes dark as coal looked about with an intensity belonging to an adult. The boy sitting on the ground playing with the scraps of fronds, look so similar as to announce his kinship to the girl. Only the length of his hair that fell to his shoulders marked the biggest difference. His round, somewhat upturned nose sitting in the midst of a broad face and above a wide mouth with full, dark lips clearly marked him as a child not from Berk. Even with tans both Hiccup, who dressed the same as his mate, and Jack looked pale and wan in comparison.

“Come ‘re, Hasna,” Jack motioned to the girl as he took his seat. “Want to learn something new?”

She walked up to him even though it seemed reasonable to assume she only understood one or two words, and that included her name. Hasna stood at the edge of the table. Jack grabbed a palm frond. The pointy end got clipped. At that end he slowly demonstrated to the girl how to separate the strands and pull them apart. He continued to show her until he got down to the finest thread he could pull. Then he handed the frond to the girl. She glanced at it and then looked up at him.

“Let’s see what you can do,” he calmly stated, and went about removing another long piece of fiber. He nodded his head to her piece.

“This might be too intricate for her, Jack,” Hiccup stated.

“Maybe, but at least it gives her a sense of helping, and that we expect her to help. Right, Hasna?” Jack rejoined and his voice rose on the final two words.

The girl smiled at the sound of her name. She then stared at the frond on her hand. Jack moved his hands forward and gave a third demonstration. At last Hasna comprehended what Jack wanted. Her chubby little finger began to work. She managed to pull the succulent leaf in half. Jack never moved his hands and continued to pull threads free. The girl frowned at the piece in her hand. Her tiny nails, often sharp enough to lacerate skin, began to pick the piece she removed. She cut it in half again. Without needing to be told, Hasna tried the trick again. Slowly but sure reduced the piece to the point where either Hiccup or Jack would need to take over. She grunted in frustration.

“Here,” Jack said and handed her the next larger strand she created. “Do that again.”

As Hasna worked at making smaller pieces, Jack pulled her first effort into five threads that he laid out next to the pile Hiccup started. He then went back to fiddle with his original frond. While Biva played in the sand and generally enjoyed himself, three others bent diligently to their task.

“Ja!” Hasna half-yelled his name.

As Jack turned his head, the girl pushed a sheave of separated fronds at him. She reduced them to the smallest size she could managed. Jack glanced at Hiccup who appeared very surprised.

“She might be a little older than we thought,” the Viking stated while the Guardian split a new frond and handed her both pieces.

“And a hell of a lot smarter than either of us guessed so far. Did you have this much patience when you were younger?” Jack mused.

“Actually, I did. You know my dad wouldn’t let me fight dragons ‘cause of my size and I got stuck working with Gobber at the forge. Besides, where do you think I learned to tinker… and that takes patience.

Jack bobbed his head. He heard the tales many times over the years, and the injustice Hiccup felt served as part of what drove him as a teenager and a young adult. Without fully realizing it, although Gobber claimed he knew exactly how Hiccup would turn out, Hiccup’s father bred him into the man who would lead Berk down a new path. Berk then began to lead others down the same path when peace led to prosperity and a significant increase in life expectancy.

“I think you found you first apprentice, Jack,” Hiccup said and stared at Hasna.

Hasna all but attacked the frond. She pulled it into ever smaller strips to the smallest she could produce. Her eyes gleamed with focused intent. Jack could already hear the Guardians heaping praise on her. He watched her work for a moment. The girl seemed determined to an almost frightening degree.

“We’re going to have to be careful with this one,” Jack quietly intoned. “I know we keep saying this, but I think she’s a lot smarter than I was at this age.”

“You don’t even remember,” Hiccup said in a faux malicious manner. “And I think that goes for me as well.”

For over an hour Hasna maintained her focus. However, the growing stack in front of her finally seemed to indicate she did enough. It would take Hiccup and Jack twice as long to reduce her product to even smaller strands. She looked at the two men.

“Hungee,” she announced with clear intent.

“When aren’t you?” Hiccup remarked.

“Fiss?” Hasna asked and pointed to the pole behind the Viking’s head.

Without a word the man stood, stretched, his spine popped a few times, and then he reached behind and seized his fishing pole. Hasna squealed, hopped off one of Jack’s efforts at crafting a stool, and ran toward the door.

“Wait for me!” Hiccup loudly commanded.

Hasna came to a halt and looked sheepishly around. Jack realized she more or less understood what got said, either because she knew the word or guessed by the tone. He dark eyes scanned the man as he approached. Then he paused and turned to his husband.

“Mind coming out and keeping Nepta busy? He scares away the fish.”

“Right behind you,” Jack answered.

The Earthling dropped the frond in his hand, stood and walked over to the boy, and scooped him out of the sand. Biva complained about the disruption of play. Jack simply kissed him on the forehead and headed for the door through with Hiccup and Hasna already departed. As he passed through, he snagged the rough-woven bag containing several coconuts reserved exclusively for the water dragon. The breezy hot afternoon called to them, and they answered.

For the next several days their lives continued at the same pace. They spent time fortifying their home. Hiccup and Jack made some needed alterations to the superstructure to make it more secure. Hasna became more assertive about assisting, and got frightfully angry when denied because the work proved to dangerous for her untrained hands. Biva continued his explorations at walking, his health and vitality now completely restored since reaching the island, and it challenged the two men to keep a constant eye on him. The need for a half door to keep the boy corralled became apparent, and three sets of hands built the needed piece. Jack fabricated simple hinges from the absurdly hard bamboo-like trees that grew all over the island. Sometimes the Berkians thought they could hear it growing.

The making of nets became frustrating for everyone. Hasna wanted to help, but lacked the dexterity. She threw a constant fit when not allowed to take part. A seeming symbiotic relationship existed between brother and sister. When Hasna got angry, Biva followed suit. Hiccup and Jack got forced into dealing with the children with greater frequency as the children developed and made demands of their own. The days when they meekly accepted what happened long since vanished once an established settlement took shape on the island.

The turn of the eight-day since they began pulling strands for the nets came as they hung the last one on the exterior of their slowly expanding hut. All thought not perfect by any standard, both Hiccup and Jack knew the creature lurking around the interior of the island would not find their home an easy target. Moreover, they felt fairly confident it would get seriously hurt in the process. They celebrated that afternoon by removing the last tree within easy jumping distance of the hut. Hiccup tried to understand what Jack meant when he talk about deforestation and desertification, but did not receive a satisfactory answer.

“I ache everywhere,” Jack said while snuggling up against Hiccup on their quasi-hammock bed.

The tough fronds made for excellent weaving, and a more or less hammock large enough for both of them hung above the floor strung between the trunks of two pruned trees used a load bearing posts. A smaller one for each child hung near theirs. Biva grumbled peacefully in his sleep and his sister dropped into deep slumber the moment she lay down. The children got worked hard very hard that day as the last of the preparations reached completion.

“You didn’t have to cut the tree down alone, you know?” Hiccup teased him.

“So which one of them would look better without a hand or limb?” The Guardian rejoined.

“Did you thank Nepta? He did most of the baby sitting. I couldn’t get Biva to sit still or stay in the same area for more than five minutes.”

Jack grinned at the neat manner in which his mate sidestepped the original question.

“I bet you were a lot like that as a child,” Hiccup mused.

“Maybe. What about you?”

After few seconds they both started to snicker. Hiccup recalled the innumerable times his father yelled at Gobber for failing to keep track of him as a child. Once he began inventing, the Viking found countless ways to avoid being penned. Jack thought back to the days when gained a mastery over his powers and created winter havoc wherever he set foot. The Guardians at the time gave chase, but even the fleet Toothania could not catch a person who could slip through solid objects. Outside the still unusual but now familiar nighttime sounds of the island jungle echoed around them. Hiccup pulled Jack closer to him. Jack leaned his head upward, and the mouths met. Despite the protests of his muscles, other wants took control. In the deep quiet of the night, Hiccup and Jack reminded themselves of a part of the reason they stayed together for over a dozen years.

“It’s a leash,” Hiccup said the next morning when he saw Jack tying a newly contrived harness around Biva’s chest.

“Biva, hold still,” Jack commanded the wriggling boy who fought him every inch of the way. “This’ll help keep you safe.”

“Sure about that?”

Jack threw his mate and stern glare. Hiccup held out one arm and deflected Hasna’s charge. She tumbled headlong, and popped onto her feet as though propelled by the growl emerging from her lips. She rushed the Viking again, and once more failed to make contact. Whatever ailments she suffered from her time at sea now became a distant memory. A variety of food, none of which she ever refused, water, and a level of exercise that rivaled dragon rider training did her a wealth of good. Biva fared just as well, although he grew increasingly more picky about what he wanted to eat. If they failed to cover everything with dehydrated coconut and juice from a fruit neither Hiccup nor Jack ever saw anywhere else, then the boy would not eat it. What lay underneath almost did not matter, but the coating became paramount.

“Would you rather have him running into the ocean when Nepta isn’t around?” Jack asked.

At the sound of the water dragon’s name, both the boy and the girl tried to head in the direction of the shoreline. The dragon became a de facto nanny, and both men could see a deep affinity between the children and the creature. Neither could recall seeing a dragon become that attached to children, including Meatlug who often coddled Haloke. In the past several eight-days Nepta proved an adept and agile watch-dragon over the children. The fear either would drown when the beast swam nearby got reduced to nearly nothing. However, the dragon did like to send some time away from the encampment, and Hiccup speculated it went deep-sea fishing for food. On that day Nepta swam lazily in the small lagoon down the beach from the hut.

“Alright, let’s go see Nepta,” Hiccup to the noisy if unintelligible demands of the children, and he opened the half door.

Jack got dragged forward as Biva dug his feet into the sand and pulled against the harness and leash. The Guardian constructed it in such a way the boy could not easily take it off or remove the tether. He grunted loudly in objection when he could not move faster. Jack walked and kept the squawking child from racing away. Hasna got deterred by the hand holding hers. To Jack’s eyes it looked like father and daughter enjoying a day at the beach, and lump rose in his throat. Extraordinary ideas began to bubble in his brain not long after they rescued the children. Each passing day further sharpened and solidified the notions. He looked at the boy struggling to increase his pace, and the Guardian felt a second surge of the same emotion.

An afternoon spent with Nepta meant the two men could lounge under one of the nearby trees and lean against one another. Sometimes the moments became too endearing and required a kiss or two. Jack could not shake the feelings he experience on the walk to the lagoon, nor could he deny how often he felt them in the past three weeks. He gently clasped Hiccup’s hand, and then raised it to his lips.

“What’cha thinking, Jack?” Hiccup asked since the small demonstration routinely revealed some deep thought on the part of his mate.

“I don’t know why or how I know… maybe it’s just stupid or wishful thinking, but what do we do about them when we get back to Berk?” Jack asked in a somber tone.

“What do you mean do about them?” Hiccup pounced one portion of the question.

“Don’t be dense.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead to be honest. I’m just worried about making it tomorrow and then the day after that,” the viking replied through an exhale. “Not sure how we’re going to get rescued.”

“Toothless,” Jack quipped before he even knew what he would say.

Hiccup turned his head away from watching the children splash around with the Nepta. He did not blink and cast a long gaze the Earthling. Often times people thought they communicated through telepathic means when they stared at one another, but in reality they simply took time to appraise the other’s mood. After ten seconds Hiccup narrowed his eyes.

“I think they’re ours now,” the Guardian softly stated.

Hiccup blinked a few times.

“What other parents do they have? And what do you think it would do to them if they got separated from another pair of adults they came to trust. Besides, I think Hasna already loves you like a father.”

The Viking’s eyes widened to an expression of surprise and said: “I would’ve said that about you. Gods, Jack, she loves spending time with you. She learns so much… and you’re so patient with her.”

“She’s never asked me to go fishing with her, and she obeys you better than me,” Jack countered.

“Oh, yeah. Have you ever seen the way Biva comes to life every time you get near him? I swear he knows who and what you are under that skin,” Hiccup forthrightly returned.

“Don’t be stupid.”

Hiccup roughly nudged his shoulder against Jack’s, and then he began to chuckle. Jack grinned. He bumped his shoulder against his mate’s.

“I thought we got over doing this?” The Hallan inquired.

“It’s not a contest… and maybe they like each of us for different reasons,” the Earthling remarked.

“Jack… do you think… oh, gods this is stupid.”

“You started it, so you’ve got to finish!”

Hiccup huffed a little as he built up the courage to reveal what his brain suddenly produced. He looked from his husband to the children who hung on the neck of the sea dragon. The easy and gentle manner of the very large creature never failed to astound. The children and the creature seemed to find something necessary in one another. That thought dovetailed directly with his first notion. He returned to looking at his mate.

“Maybe we’re good at this whole parent thing. I know you are ‘cause of that Guardian stuff you’ve got going on deep down, but me… it’s weird, but I can’t wait to see them every morning to make sure they’re okay… safe and sound,” the man explained.

“Is it because we don’t have our… dragons?” Jack asked and his voice caught on the last word. Visions of IceSpike and how she would respond to the children flashed in his brain, but quickly got followed by the sight of the trapped dragon sinking into the dark, storm-tossed waters.

“No,” Hiccup said and wrapped a sun-browned arm around his beloved. “It’s different. It’s more… more… fundamental. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“It’s because they’re human.”

Hiccup nodded his head a little. He never wanted to admit that Toothless might simply be a dragon: a viciously fast and wickedly smart one, but a dragon nonetheless. He loved the creature beyond measure, but the two children effected him in a more profound manner, and it seemed reasonable that their being human could be the cause. The part he did not want to say aloud came in the fact he grew to enjoy caring for and protecting them. The children gave him an insight into Jack of a new and increasing important kind. The term Guardian took on a meaning he never considered in the past.

“Yeah, it’s because they are human. I don’t know why it makes a difference, but it does,” Hiccup confessed that much. “Let’s me understand you better.”

Jack raised his eyebrows.

“Protecting Berk with the dragons is one thing, my love, but these two lives are so completely dependent on us it… it’s an entirely different game. I understand why you do what you do on Earth… what you did here… still do here so much better.”

The Guardian leaned into the side hug and said: “I told you this before, but I never once regretted I died saving my sister. She needed to live. Her life was worth so much more than mine…”

“Jack!” Hiccup chastised him.

“Hear me out, Viking,” Jack instantly rejoined in frustration. “This is what makes a Guardian a Guardian… and you’re one whether you like it or not. You risk your life for our people every time you go into the sky to defend them. You’re not thinking of yourself…”

“But I am,” Hiccup interrupted again. “I can’t stand the idea one of them might die when I could do something about it. I have the means to fight for them, Jack, just like you do on two different worlds. I need to do this for them ‘cause I can’t stomach the notion I might loose one of them… even Rotmeat.”

Jack started to snicker at the idea Hiccup would sacrifice himself for the one person on Berk no one could really tolerate. Aside from his name that seemed to describe the inner person, Rotmeat never did anything for anybody. He seemed to harbor a grudge against the entire island, no one knew why, and yet he refused to find a new home. That Hiccup would include the odious man in the list of those he would die to protect spoke volumes. The sound of the children and dragon enjoying themselves to the utmost washed over the two men like an incoming tide.

“You’re right, though, Jack: they are ours. It hasn’t been that long, but I can’t imagine what it would like without them. The need us… and I need them. I don’t know why, but I do. I need them almost as much as I need you,” the Hallan said quietly as he stared as the trio playing on the edge of the lagoon.

Jack wrapped his arms around his husband and squeezed. Hiccup spoke for him as well. His life as a Guardian seemed to swell within his body. Although he thought he imagined it, Jack chose to believe he could feel his powers expanding. Once again Elada’s statement seemed prophetic to the extreme: Jack sensed he did become more of a person, more of a Guardian, because of his life on Halla. The world on which he got trapped that long since became his voluntary home breathed a vitality into him Jack could not describe even if given dozens of uninterrupted years.

The morning spent enjoying the warm morning and splashing around with Nepta, including the two adults who played as eagerly as the children, lent them a sense of peace. Their situation seemed stable, but the men knew dangers could stem from any quarter. Once they secured their homestead, both got the freedom to think about the immediate and long-term future. The walk back to the house with Biva leading the way, angrily constrained by the leash and harness, and Hasna stating her hunger over and over seemed natural to the two men. Hasna pulled at Hiccup’s arm while her brother tottered from side-to-side in a wide arc testing the limits of his tether. Jack grinned the entire time.

For the next several days the quartet of people gingerly explored the fringe of jungle that lay on the other side of the sandy beach. The dark grains looked like a carpet leading to the trees. They did not stray too far inside the fringe. The Earthling and Hallan decided to check for signs the beast who lived further in the woods ventured near them. They examined both ground and tree trunk. Only near the lagoon, Nepta’s playground, did they find any evidence. Several tracks leading from and to a tree, plus score marks on the trunk, told them much.

“So it does climb, and I think it’s been watching us,” Hiccup darkly and thoughtfully muttered. His hand remained firmly clasped to Hasna’s who went quiet when they entered the jungle.

“We always thought it could climb, and it makes sense. Getting a drop from a tree would be an invaluable hunting method,” Jack replied while holding the wriggling mass of Biva in his arms. “I’m, ah, also kind of worried it might travel through the trees. I don’t see any other tracks around.”

They scanned the area and found only falling boughs and fronds.

“How do you feel about a stroll on the beach?” Hiccup asked as he eyed the upper reaches around them.

“Sounds… pleasant,” the Guardian replied as he, too, searched the higher vegetation. Then he lowered his voice and said: “Let’s hope it’s not like a singewing…”

“Yeah, I’m trying not to think that, Jack. Let’s just walk.”

They made every attempt to mask their nervousness as they headed toward the beach. Hiccup strained his ears listening for any sound that came from above. Jack’s head remained tilted back as he continually surveyed the trees. It seemed to take a small eternity to reach the dark sand. As training to encounter wild dragons taught them, never move fast or make quick motions lest one attracts a hunting foe. Only when they neared the water did they begin to breath with ease. Jack set Biva down and let him wander. Hiccup attempted to let go of Hasna’s hand, but remained attached.

“Hasna?” He softly asked the girl.

“Tere… bad?” She inquired and pointed to the woods.

“There is… a little bad.”

“She’s reacting to us,” Jack needless stated.

“Might be good she is,” Hiccup rejoined.

“We’ve got a problem since I don’t want to go back to a fish-only diet.”

Hiccup turned and faced the jungle. Inside it hid all manner of food that would give them variety and kept them healthy. Their only source of potable water lay within the jungle as well. His mind began to chase shadows as he considered the free flowing spring might be used as perfect location to ambush unsuspecting prey. The man frowned.

“What’re you thinking?” His husband inquired.

“Water,” Hiccup rejoined.

Jack’s face fell.

“Hate to say it, but I don’t think we’re done cutting down trees, Jack. We need to clear the path to the spring. Then we can put up some sort of shelter around it to keep us safe when using it.”

The Guardian nodded. Although it promised a world of back-breaking labor, it seemed the only sensible course. The foursome headed to their home as the adults discussed and made plans as to the task now laying before them. Hiccup felt tired just thinking about it, and Jack looked laggard as well. For over almost six eight-days they struggled to stay alive and take care of the children. Hiccup thought back to his youth when the Vikings routinely fought with dragons who extracted both flesh and wool from the Hairy Hooligans. Until Toothless arrived and altered everybody’s life, the Vikings seemed to spend a third of their time rebuilding the village, fishing, or hunting for dragons. The coming of the night fury in their lives freed everyone from some of the more serious struggles. In the same vein, Jack reviewed the snippets of his remaining childhood memories. He recalled a hard life on the frontier as it required they make everything they needed. It seemed to be the root of why he developed such a playful nature: it served as a balm to the hardships. This situation, however, caused him stress.

The lack of metal and a decent forge meant they did not have a good range of tools. Hiccup tried his best to fashion the various blades they needed from the bits of metal they found around the wreckage on the east end of the island, but it never seemed enough. Although volcanic glass should be plentiful, the predator in the jungle kept them from making a search for the commodity. Hence, they cobbled together what tools they could and set to work. By the middle of the third day, with Hasna desperately trying to participate and Biva waging a never-ending war against the leash, the task announced it would take the men a long time to complete. The blisters and sore muscles would only be a bonus.

“One day and only two trees!” Jack fumed as they returned to the hut for their evening repast. Biva tried to walk in the other direction back to the jungle and vociferously let his displeasure be known. “My hands feel like a yak did a dance on them!”

Hiccup, equally sore, shook his head. His head, neck, shoulders, back, and chest still glistened with sweat, and he tore a new hole in his pants. It would be long before he needed to alter a new pair they found along the ragged eastern coastline. He shook his head.

“You look beat,” Jack said in a calmer voice.

“So do you,” Hiccup said and grinned at his mate. Next to him Hasna dragged their makeshift axe through the sandy soil. “I thought cutting a tree down was bad, but… both those two at the same time wore me out more.”

“Oh, no. I hear what you’re trying to say!”

“Jack, no…”

“We take turns like we agreed,” the Guardian cut off the Viking as he hauled a now sitting toddler along the path that increasingly became only sand. It would take forever to get all the grains removed from the boy.

Hiccup eyed him and thought it both amusing and annoying Jack so quickly figured out where the conversation would lead. As much as he cared for and, in truth, loved the children, minding both at the same time drove him to his wits’ end. Hasna came close to getting clobbered with the axe four times while they worked. Biva, meanwhile, continued his ceaseless and extremely vocal battle against the leash. However, neither man could stomach the idea of the boy alone and lost in the jungle with a largely unknown hunting beast lurking about.

“This is going to take us forever,” the Viking grumped.

Jack stopped walking, and Hiccup ran into him.

“Warn a guy!”

“Hiccup, what if we don’t have to do this alone?” Jack mumbled.

“Who are we go…” Hiccup began to question and halted as he followed the line of site of his husband.

Jack stared at the ocean.

“Never saw him come on land once,” the senior dragon rider said in a quiet voice that almost got drowned out by the yelling of Biva. “He’s a deep sea dragon.”

“Nepta!” Hasna gleefully called out.

Biva instantly climbed to his feet and started trotting toward the shoreline. He came up short when the leash took hold, and fell back on his bottom. The boy let out a loud squawk.

“She knows the word dragon now?” Hiccup asked and stared at the girl who let the axe fall into the sand. Before the girl could dart to the beach, he grabbed her hand and the axe she promptly forgot.

“She knows more than that. Ever listen to her in her sleep?” The Earthling inquired. “She talks in her sleep.”

“I noticed that, but I thought it was just… mumble-jumble.”

“Not all of it. Listen more closely. It’s a mix of her native language and Berkian. I think it means she’s making a transition. I’m willing to bet pretty soon all she’ll know is our language.”

“Go!” Hasna yelled at an opportune moment.

Hiccup started walked, but did not release her and said: “Eat first; Nepta second.”

“Go!” She hollered a second time and reached outward toward the beach.

Her yelling set off her brother who began to throw a pitched fit. The two of them raised a considerable clamor as the adults lead them to the hut much against their will. Hasna began to cry when they veered away from the beach toward the hut. Jack resorted to picking up Biva who screamed and kicked his arms and legs.

“Isn’t this point where we hand ‘em off to Fishlegs or Astrid?” The Viking loudly spoke over the two crying children.

Jack craned his head around and smirked at his husband. Many times in the past he got their friends’ children wound up drum head tight only to return the time-bombs to their parents. The transfer often acted like a trigger for a tantrum. What once seemed funny in the past now appeared less humorous. The two men and the two distraught children made their way to their home.

“Go lay down and cry it out,” Hiccup commanded Hasna when they stepped through the door.

She ran to her bed and flung herself onto it. Jack closed the hut door with his one free hand while setting Biva down. The boy sat where placed and bawled. He knew they likely acted out due to hunger and thirst. He watched as Hiccup set aside the axe and aimed for their food stores. It seemed reasonable to assume the children would calm as they prepared a meal. Hasna began wanting to assist with that detail as well, but her current state indicated she would she would waver between helping and stomping. Biva acted as though abandoned on the shore without a friend in the world. Even after Jack bent down and whispered to the boy while he undid the harness did not console the toddler. Hence, the preparation for dinner commenced under the ruckus created by two distraught children.

“Yep, I never really appreciated this part of the whole parenting deal,” Hiccup loudly exclaimed over the noise.

“Comes with the territory, just like when a dragon eats something bad and you’ve got to nurse it through it’s system,” Jack answered at the same volume.

A year before Toothless at some bad fish. Despite it’s turned condition, the dragon ate it anyway after a grueling long search and rescue flight. Half way through the basket, Hiccup pushed the night fury away. Everyone who witnessed the gorging by the beast knew it came too late. For the next day and a half Hiccup nursed the violently ill dragon. The bad fish exploded out of both ends of the renowned night fury some six hours after consumption. Fortunately they moved the stricken Toothless to the dragon cave and spared their home a disastrous mess. It took dragon five days to fully recover. Somehow the riders tended to overlook the messier parts of ministering to a dragon in favor of the aerial and fighting aspects. The reminder served both men well at the moment.

Hiccup finished preparing the fish, fruit, and limited vegetables at their disposal. Cups made by carefully segmenting the bamboo-like tree saplings got filled with water. Jack busied himself preparing the coconut concoction that ensure Biva would eat. As he added the ingredients together, the boy began to settle down and watch the happenings. The assumption Biva acted out of hunger got confirmed when he pushed himself up and waddled to the table and stood next to his chair. Hasna, conversely, remained on the bed and cried to herself. It seemed she expected to play with Nepta that day, a reasonable one, and got disappointed when they did not go to the shore. The Viking and Earthling left her to her personal discontent and finished getting the meal ready.

“Up, you,” Jack said while hoisting Biva onto his seat, “and someone really needs a change after we eat.”

Biva grabbed the placement Hiccup wove with Hasna and tossed it to the side. His eyes fixed on the trencher of prepared food. He seemed ready to cry at a moment’s notice if his meal did not appear forthwith.

“Hasna, are you hungry?” Hiccup rumbled as he carried the offering to the table.

“Hungee,” she muttered between sobs.

“Well, come on, then. It’s ready.”

“Hungee,” she repeated and slowly began to slither off her bed.

Jack did not wait and simply gave a hunk of coconut and fruit juice covered fish to the boy. Half of it disappeared into Biva’s open maw. The man feeding him shook his head.

“You’re going to choke, Biva,” Jack said and gently held the child’s hand down.

“Mwah-ah-ah-ah!” The toddler managed to bellow around the food in his mouth.

“Chew that first!” The Guardian demanded and pointed to the small, brown and around face.

Biva masticated the items in his mouth, but he grumbled the entire time. His eyes never left Jack’s hand that held the other half of the fish chunk. In the meanwhile Hasna slunk to the small table and crawled into her seat. She cast a doleful look at Hiccup as though reproving him for some heinous transgression. Hiccup deposit a portion of the fish and fruit on her plate. He held the vegetables back as they tended to be the first thing she ate. Hasna started to open her mouth and scrunch her eyes.

“Do it and you don’t get any,” he warned her in a deep vocal tone.

The girl’s eyes creaked open a bit. Hiccup watched her scan his face and posture. While they might not yet be able to communicate with full sentences, or even words in Biva’s case, body language became essential. Jack watched Hasna appraise the Viking, and her ferocious intellect became readily apparent. This girl planned, Jack said to himself and realize he would never need to visit her if she lived on Earth. The standoff continued until Hasna picked up a piece fish and placed it in her mouth. Hiccup did not appear entirely satisfied, yet he sat down and began eat.

“Fwa-a-a-a-a!” Biva let loose in a staccato manner. It meant he wanted another piece of coconut encrusted whatever since the substrate only acted as a delivery device for the coconut.

Jack handed him the second half of the fish piece. The boy grabbed it and jammed it into his mouth. Silence echoed around the table except for the eating noises. Hasna never took her eyes from the Viking who left the wooden platter of vegetables sitting to his far left while the girl sat to his right. Jack began to smirk as he thought of the number of western films he saw that included very similar situations.

“Stop grinning like that,” Hiccup warned him, but the corners of his mouth twitched.

“So everything we talked about keeping them…”

“Doesn’t change one bit. You wouldn’t believe how many times I heard Astrid complain about getting her kids to eat when this age. Guess it’s our turn now,” the Hallan quickly interjected.

“Just checking,” Jack mumbled.

The two men started to snicker.


	13. Chapter 13

As expected the task of clearing a path to the artesian well ground on without end. The trees grew more substantial the further in they travel, and the wood became very springy. The axe would just as easily bounce off the surface as bite into the thick, stringy bark. They discussed a second time trying to get Nepta to come ashore and help yank the trees from the ground, but a survey of the beast’s appendages defeated the idea. Flat, wide flippers attached themselves to stubby, thick arms and legs. The dragon would barely be able to walk on land if it could make landfall at all. Thus, two men with two perpetually perturbed children worked ceaselessly in the forest and some day made little progress.

“An eight-day! We’ve been working for more than an eight-day and we’re not even half way done!” Jack grumbled on the ninth morning as they began to prepare for another assault on the trees.

“Maybe we should take a break today?” Hiccup suggested.

“We’ll knock off a noon. I think the kids need more time with Nepta… and I think he needs more time with them.”

The Viking nodded. Part of living with a Guardian meant confronting a bullheadedness that rivaled any on Berk. More often than not Jack became single-minded to the exclusion of nearly everything else, including people from time to time. Hiccup knew such a mindset served him well on his home planet, and that obdurate, tenacious personality freed him from a prison more than a dozen years before. He looked at the deliciously tanned body of his mate, the hair streaked with various shades of brown gold, a body grown lean a tight from a sparse diet and a lot of work. A fire seemed to ripple in the medium brown irises, a color no other Viking possessed. Since the night the Island Miss sank, he saw a different person emerge from Jack, and one he admire a bit more than the original. In some ways, Hiccup believe he got to see the core of the Guardian.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jack rumbled at his mate.

“Ah… yeah, standing up is going to be a bit embarrassing,” Hiccup confessed.

“They’re too young to realize what’s going on if you don’t make a big deal of it.”

The both started laughing at the private pun they used in the past. It felt good to laugh, Jack thought as he chuckled. Life on the island constantly pushed them to the edge, and they needed to find the strength to push back. Laughter, as he often heard on Earth, sometimes proved the best medicine. It did balm the spirit.

“Lunch on the beach?” The Viking said while his rosy cheeks persisted.

“Hasna and Biva will love it,” the Guardian agreed. “So will Nepta.”

“Did you hear him keening at the beach the other day?”

“Why do you think we went for a walk?”

Not a single doubt existed that the sea dragon loved the children. If he got denied their presence for too long, he would make his displeasure known. It astounded both dragon riders. Hiccup began to openly speculate that Nepta might, in fact, be a female since he or she showed so many mothering tendencies they saw in other species. Jack tended to agree and started to shift his mental image of Nepta.

“I think we should finish putting the roof on the well house ‘cause I don’t think I can split any thinner planks from the logs,” Jack said and returned to thinking about the primary task. “What I wouldn’t give for a decent drill.”

“I don’t know, Jack. What you’ve made out of stone and junk is pretty impressive… and it works. You learned something from Gobber,” Hiccup said and laid on the compliment as thickly as he could.

“Maybe but my hands still got torn to pieces working, though.”

Jack glanced down as his hands turned palm up with fingers spread. A vast collection of blisters and sores stared back at him. Of course, Hiccup also garnered his own spectacular collection. They worked through the pain because not doing so put them and the children in greater danger. With that they went about getting ready for the day. They served a simple breakfast and it revealed the needed to forage for more fruit and vegetables. It seemed like Hiccup and Hasna would spend part of the afternoon fishing in the shallows while Jack and Biva entertained Nepta. The schedule for the day naturally unfolded as needs dictated. After the meal, the boy relentlessly fought against the Guardian while the safety harness got put on him. Hasna huffed when Hiccup in search of the axe.

The adults and quarrelsome children made their way down the path, half the length considerably wider then before by design, and aimed for the simple shed in the distance. To take a break from chopping down trees the Hallan and the Earthling began construction of the protective barrier around the vital source of potable water. Hiccup dug post holes while Jack did his best at fashioning posts. He then devised a drill out of a piece of rock and stick, and then made a small bow used to power the drill. While he drilled holes in the spongy wood, Hiccup cut mortices and tenions in the top of each post and cross brace. Drilling became vastly more work-intensive than cutting into the wood with one of the knives they scavenged. Sometimes the two men traded off tasks. It took two separate afternoons to erect the basic structure. Now they needed to shingle the roof.

“How quick do you think Hasna will learn handing shakes to you?” Jack inquired.

“Shakes?” Hiccup queried with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s what we call wood shingles on Earth. Sorry.”

“Let’s just stick with shingles, and I think she’ll be happy to have something to do. I almost cut off her finger the other day.”

Working with children who could not otherwise be occupied became tedious, and simply abandoning them to the sea dragon did not seem a wise course regardless of how dependable Nepta proved. Thus, they continued with the same plan: Biva remained tied to one or the other man, and Hasna got assigned small and relatively pointless tasks. She appeared to understand the work she did imparted no value to their efforts. While the boy pulled desperately against the harness and leash, the girl acted grouchy and sullen as she moved branches and twigs to a pile. Thus, the children did not cooperate as they approached the shed.

“This time we’re putting you to work,” Hiccup told Hasna in a stern voice while leading the pile of shingles Jack created.

Each bore a small hole on one end to secure them to one of the rafter cross members. The man picked one up and handed it to the girl. The Viking held it before her. She stared at him in blatant confusion. He wiggled it around.

“Here, take this,” Hiccup said and held it our.

“Hicca?” She asked and the confusion did not abate.

“Take the shingle,” he told her a second time and extended his hand a bit further.

In a tentative motion the girl reached out for it. Hiccup smiled and nodded his head. Hasna took the piece of wood. She stood, dressed in the fraying remains of her wrap, holding onto the piece while staring at the man.

“Good,” he said in a chipper voice and ran a hand across the top of her hair, an act that often irritated her. “Come with me.”

Hasna understood that phrase and followed as he walked the short distance to the well across the firmer ground. Over probably centuries, possibly millennia, the sand mixed with the detritus of plants and trees to transform into soil. It slowly got compacted over the same span of time and became dirt covering the bedrock of volcanic stone. When man and child got to the frame of the well house, Hiccup held out his hand.

“Okay, now give it back to me,” he instructed her.

Hasna resumed a confused visage.

“Give me the shingle,” Hiccup replied to the expression, and then he pointed to the object in her hand. He waggled his hand again.

The girl gradually held it out. Hiccup took it from her. Then with his free hand he pointed to the line of shingles. After a few seconds, he pulled his arm back and pointed to himself. Hasna gave him a blank expression. Jack watched as his mate rethought his plan. Hiccup always made a particular frown when he recalculated. After a second or two he put the shingle down and extended an open hand to the girl. She slowly took it. Hiccup started walking back to the pile of shingles, and Hasna followed even if she did get pulled along a bit. The man and child stopped at the shingles. Hiccup pointed down at the pile. While she still seemed very uncertain of what he expected of her, Hasna bent down and grabbed one.

“Yes, good,” Hiccup praised her. “Now we go back to the well.”

“Well,” Hasna clearly enunciated.

Together they returned to where Hiccup set down the first one. They halted. The Viking held out his hand, and then wiggled his fingers. Hasna looked at the shake of wood, looked up to Hiccup, back to the shingle, and then handed it to him.

“Good! Good! Now go get another one,” he said in a happy voice. Then he pointed to the pile.

While Biva pulled against the harness tied to Jack’s waist, he watched with intense curiosity as Hiccup trained Hasna on what to do. He also did it while using very little language. Given that dragon riders flying in battle or formation could not always speak to one another, Hiccup displayed a commendable versatility at improvising his training method. When Hasna did not react or respond, the Viking gently guided her back to the shingles. The girl seized one before he could direct her. When they returned to the well, she handed it to Hiccup without being asked. Biva took that moment to run in another direction, trip and fall, pick himself up, and return to his effort to escape. Thus, Jack missed how Hiccup conveyed his want to Hasna, but she trotted alone to the shingles, took hold of one, and then returned to him with desired object. Hiccup took it from her and then squatted.

“Who is the smartest girl on the island? Huh? Who? Hasna is! Hasna is the smartest girl!” He loudly commended her, swept her into a hug, and swung her back and forth.

Hasna squealed with delight. When Hiccup sat her down, her dark eyes sparkled with apparent happiness and pride. Jack grinned at the display. It seemed years and years of teaching some of the most dimwitted Vikings to ride dragons served him well when dealing with a small child who did not speak Berkian. On the other hand, Biva seemed more than willing to fill the role of a slightly thick Viking in the way he refused to give up his struggle against the harness and leash despite what the best evidence offered.

“Okay, go get a shingle!” Hiccup asked the Hasna.

Without missing a beat, the girl turned and ran to the shingles. She dutifully returned with one. For a second time Hiccup gregariously rewarded the girl. The senior dragon rider recalled how the trainees often responded better to praise than constant correct. At least it worked that way for his mother. Hiccup routinely used yelling at the new riders as a way to vent his frustrations regarding a whole host of issues. At the same time, he wanted the riders to respect the sound and tone of his voice. In battle they may not understand the words, but they would pay attention to the tone. However, dragons learned in a different manner, and Hiccup used that method with the girl. Bonding with the flying creatures could be enhanced with direct but gentle coaching. The same seemed to apply to children. He glanced at Jack, and the Guardian beamed a smile at him.

“Be quiet, you,” he mumbled, and his face split into a smirk.

With Hasna acting as a runner between Jack who would provide the materials and Hiccup who would lash them to the well house framing, a more or less efficient team emerged. Sometimes Hasna got distracted by a pretty bug or leaf she happened to just notice, but for the most part she took constant part in the construction. Jack cut new shakes from the planks he prepared the day before, and drilled a small hole into one end. A race ensued wherein Hasna attempted to exhaust the supply of singles faster than Jack could produce them. She won every few minutes. In the meanwhile Biva settled down and played in the sand with scraps of wood Jack tossed over his should.

“Ja! Wooh!” Hasna exclaimed at one point and held our her hand.

Jack lifted a just finished shingle, jerked it back when she tried to grab it, and said: “Wood, Hasna. Say wood… w-o-o-d-d-d.”

“Wooh,” she grunted at him.

“Deh… deh… woo-deh, woo-deh… wood,” he carefully sounded out the word as he saw done on a television program for small children that used fuzzy puppets to teach diction and word as well as the alphabet, colors, and numbers. “Wood.

“Woo-dt,” Hasna rejoined because she regularly played this game with him. “Woo.. dt.”

“Yes, wood. Good girl!” he said an ruffled her hair, and that caused her to throw him an annoyed frown.

He handed her the piece. She snagged it and ran back to Hiccup who could not keep pace with her, either. Jack stood and stretched. His back, biceps, neck, and shoulders started to cramp form working at such an awkward angle. At some point, the Earthling thought, he would need to build a crude work bench. With that idea in mind, the lean man reached down and scooped the dirt covered boy from the ground. Biva grunted in displeasure, but could not escape from the sure grip of the Guardian. Thus, he got carried to where Hiccup attempted to fasten the shingles to the roof frame with lengths of stringy bark pulled from the trees they cut down and denuded. Hiccup got most of one course finished on both sides. His fingers looked raw and red.

“Slow going?” Jack commented and held onto the squirming child who wanted to be set down.

“I got more splinters in my finger than I can count, and getting this fuzzy string through holes is almost impossible half the time. Plus that terrible terror keeps pushing me to go faster and faster,” the Hallan complained, and threw a long glance at Hasna who seemed too impatient for words.

“Want to switch? I’m about done from the waist up.”

“Yeah, but can you reach the next row?”

“Ha, ha,” Jack fake-laughed and then looked at the progress. He could reach the second and third course without needing a ladder or scaffolding. “You are so funny sometimes I just… just can’t laugh.”

“The Spirit of Fun can’t laugh?” Hiccup rejoined in mock amazement.

The Earthling’s eyes went wide as he softly said: “You haven’t called me that in years.”

The Viking shrugged and replied: “Never needed to once the Defenders got back together. Astrid’s kids brings it out in you… and the Thorstons.”

“They scare me.”

“Ruffnut and Tuff…”

“No, their kids. They’re just as addled as their parents. You do know that, right?”

Hiccup began to laugh, and Jack soon joined in. Although each Thorston child could be extremely loony in their own unique fashion, none reached the level of their surname parents. Ruffnut and Tuffnut appeared to exhaust the Thorston reserve of outlandishness. As they laughed, Hiccup began to reach for the rope connecting him to Biva.

“Nah, leave it,” Jack dissuaded him. “You’d be surprised how much he gets in the way when I’m trying to drill a hole. Biva’s got a knack for knowing just when to pull and mess up the drill alignment.”

“You sure?” His husband inquired just in case.

The Guardian nodded. He meant what he said and glanced down at the boy who decided to sit in the middle of puddle and play with mud. He happily splashed, and the mud barely looked visible against his sun-darkened dark skin.

“That’ll keep him busy ‘til lunch,” Jack promised.

“Yell if it gets to be too much,” Hiccup ordered. Then he turned to Hasna and said: “You’re with me. Come on.”

Before he left, Hiccup handed Jack the last shingle in his possession. Jack studied the pile of fuzzy string they made the night before as they planned on how to attack the shakes to the rails. Hiccup’s complaint that the stray fibers hanging off the sides popped into his mind. His eyes searched the ground, and he found what thought would serve: a short, think stick. From there he grabbed a piece of string and punched it through the hole with the stick. It made him wonder why Hiccup did not think of it. However, years of living and working in the same shop as the man provided a partial answer. Hiccuped tended to get stuck on a process even when it proved less than efficient if he used it too often. Fartbritches and Mouldy routinely grumbled about Hiccup making them complete tasks using the slowest method possible. Jack smirked as he applied himself to tying a square knot in the string and then another one. Over time, he thought, moisture would make the string swell and tighten. The work continued with Hasna setting a grinding pace.

Hiccup watched as Jack got absorbed in the process. He growled in frustration when he saw his husband using stick to push the string through the opening. His splinter-riddled fingers throbbed and it only added further recriminations for his failure to consider a better method. Thus, he studied the process he used to drill holes in the planks, and realized Jack already figured it out. The blunt end of the drill sat in a depression in a fist-sized block of wood held in the hand, the dill bit against the work piece, and he sawed back and froth with the bow that turned the shaft. The stone bit got caught in the grain from time to time, but the drill actually performed fairly well. Above him Hasna huffed as she waited for him to finish a shake so she could run it to Jack.

“My father would’ve loved you,” Hiccup wryly commented to the girl. Then he turned his attention to drilling another hole.

Biva grew bored of the mud puddle after about half an hour, and so he resumed his attempts to pull free of Jack. Used to the sudden strain against his midsection, Jack kept working. The boy’s insistence grew by leaps and bounds. Just as the Guardian planned to address Biva, Hasna let out a terrified scream, and Hiccup’s yelling reverberated through clearing. Yet of all the sounds, Jack heard Biva’s panicked cry that began and almost instantly diminished, and the gut-wrenching shriek followed by a crunching sound. The Earthling whipped around in time to see two tiny legs fall from the bloody maw of a creature that looked like a cross between a crocodile, a snake and a dragon, sans wings. Only orange-yellow eyes and now red-stained teeth showed against the greenery. The body of the creature blended fully with the foliage.

“NO!” Jack yelled at the top of his lungs as his brain struggled to make sense of the situation. “NO! NO!”

Before he could bellow a fourth time, Jack got jerked violently toward the beast. A red mouth stretched long and terrible, with identifiable pieces of Biva still on its tongue, opened to take a bite as the man got dragged to beast. Anger, horror, panic, and a deep sorrow exploded in Jack’s chest. Tears streamed down his face as he saw the remains of the little boy he came to love as dearly as if he fathered the child himself. Behind his initial emotions came a wave of fury the size of Halla itself. His vision started to fog as he drew closer and closer to the damnable animal.

Hiccup stopped running toward Jack, and then he grabbed a hold of the girl. She continued to scream in pure terror. The man dragged her back. Tear also flowed from his eyes, but a greater sense of caution took over as he watched his mate, his husband, start to glisten with light. Hiccup yelled out to the man he loved as the body stiffened. Jack did not respond. He seemed unable to move.

The voices of Hiccup and Hasna became mute, as did every other sound in the jungle. Jack never got struck by lightning in his life, even in his immortal life, yet he felt as though it happened. His body began to pulse with tremendous energies. It robbed him of the ability to flex either arm or leg, or move at all. Through a haze he saw the creature preparing for another meal. Renewed anger, rivaled only when Jack saw his beloved sitting in an Earth prison, coursed hotly through him. The surrounding world turned white as a supernova. Then it became cold. The rope dropped from around his waist as his fingers curled around a familiar cylindrical shape.

Jack Frost, full of grief and rage, emerged from the brown-haired slender man.

“NO!” He yelled again as his heart broke and a pain of titanic proportions wracked every millimeter of his body. His arm instinctively held held out the crook of wood that dripped with frozen vapors. “WHY?”

The word thundered out of him. Right behind it a blast of frost power greater than any he ever unleashed on Halla lanced out of his arm and staff. The snarling creature looked prepared to leap, and then it froze. In the most literal of terms the beast became frozen solid as the wave of ethereal energies washed over it and plunged the animal into temperatures two-thirds of absolute zero. The trees around it froze. The plants sprouted frost and ice like a time-lapsed film. The sandy ground became as solid as granite. The air itself groaned under the pressure of the power Jack Frost set free in his fury. The snake-dragon thing fell from the tree and shattered on the ground.

Hiccup saw the transformation, and he saw the crook appear. Having seen his husband in his elemental form and lay waste to an entire prison, he knew better than to remain where he stood holding Hasna. He carried the shrieking girl and ran down the path toward the beach. Misery over the death of the boy etched itself on his heart, but he could not lose Hasna as well. The Viking pumped his legs with all his might. Despite the speed he achieved, Hiccup felt the intense cold roll over him, and he pressed the girl closer to his bare chest. The man ran until he reached the water and then spun on one heel to his right and continued to sprint until it felt as though his lungs would burst from the effort and collapsed. When he did trip, Hiccup curled his body around Hasna as they rolled across the sand and cold rolled across them. His labored breathing raised a plume of frozen vapor.

“Jack,” he whispered.

Hiccup bent his head into the form of Hasna and began to sob.

The beast lay on the ground nothing more than small chunks of frozen reptile. His anger and sorrow created a wreck in his mind, and his body burst with another wave of frost power. Everything around him glistened white as ice crystals formed on everything. The monumental level of power he released became difficult to control as his emotions ran wild. Jack hovered in the air and fought to contain himself. His mind replayed the death of Biva over and over, and sometimes it add glimpses of IceSpike’s final moments for added spite. A new, violent explosion of frost power coated the surrounding area in another layer of ice. The air itself turned as arid as a desert as every mote of moisture got consumed. Then the cold turned inward.

“No, gods, no,” he cried and tears froze on his cheeks as he heard a sound he learned to dread during his first half-year on Halla.

The song of Aita rose. Not far off from where the shattered remains of the creature lay strewn about, a pitch-black void opened in the air and hovered inches from the ground. Jack saw the constantly shifting form of The Breathless One. It called out the commands to the tiny, barely visible patch of light that undulated toward the hole in reality. Jack felt anew his powerlessness against one as ancient and formidable as Aita. In less than a minute the final form of Biva completely departed the world, and Jack felt the utter loss of the boy in the very marrow of his bones. Then Aita and the void disappeared as though neither ever existed in that spot.

Ever so slowly Jack Frost drifted to the ground. He fell to his knees. Then he fell over. He hugged the crook to his body as though it might save him from the anguish that clawed at his heart. The Guardian cried in his desperate want to save Biva from such a horrible fate. The love he held for the boy burned in him like acid. The limitations of his mortal form wailed in his mind. He never experienced such an exquisite pain in his original youth. It consumed his entire form.

On the beach Hiccup held tight to Hasna as he also sought some way to express his grief. Hasna continued to cry and tremble. With a monumental effort in his mind, the man pushed away his own sorrow and focused on the girl. Her needs outweighed his as she just got deprived of the last piece of her real family. She became a true orphan. Hiccup held her tight.

“We’re safe. We’re safe,” he told the girl through a throat that nearly choked him to death. “Jack saved us.”

“Ja?” She whispered the name between sobs.

“Yes, Jack… the real Jack,” Hiccup said as much to himself as to her.

In that admission the Viking’s woe intensified. He witnessed how much Jack came to love both the boy and the girl in their short time on the island. Moreover, the Guardian clearly still existed in the Earthling, and the destruction of the child would extract a heavier price from that part of his husband. The whole reason for Jack’s being on his home world would come crashing down his head. Hiccup started to feel a visceral hatred for the beast that took Biva from them. Without releasing Hasna, the man struggled to his knees and then to his feet. While clutching the girl tightly to him, he turned to head back into the jungle. Hiccup stop as his mind went momentarily numb as he took in the sight.

Cold seeped into the soles of the Viking’s feet, but he ignored the sensation. Stretching at least fifty feet on either side of the path he used for their escape, the jungle stood motionless and frozen in the truest sense of the word. The sounds of cracking and tinkling rippled out of the frozen demesne. What looked to be at least an inch of ice coated everything. Pieces of leaves and twigs snapped from branches and plants under the weight of the thick rime. He started to walk toward the path, but then his feet began to freeze and stick to the ground. Hiccup knew all about frostbite and frost-burn, and he retreated to warmer sand. He could not take his eyes from the effects of his husband’s power. It exceeded anything Hiccup saw in the past.

A Guardian from Earth, the Spirit of Fun, did not move. He stared at the bits and pieces, the frozen remnants, of the creature and knew the last physical remains of Biva got mixed into the detritus. Even if he found every last molecule, Jack knew he could not bring the boy to life. Aita already claimed him. Only the icy remains and the memories of the child survived. It made Jack feel hollow and useless. He clung to the staff, one that no longer felt a completely natural part of him, and hoped it would save him from drowning in misery. It seemed parts of him died inside in reaction.

A rumble of thunder sounded overhead, and Jack snapped his eyes shut.

“Dost thou forget the lessons of thy past, Jack Frost?” A voice long absent from his ears resounded.

Jack shook his head from side to side.

“In thy guise of blood, bone, and flesh, thou art even less able…”

“Shut up!” Jack ground out through his teeth.

“Impertinent whelp!” Thursar H’rim spat at him.

The fear, grief, and rage trapped in Jack’s body found an outlet. It did not even take a thought for the cold winds to lift him from the ground and propel the immortal high into the sky in the blink of an eye. The Sickle of Elada, now of Noro, gleamed in his hand like polished silver. His body drank in energies at terrifying rate and filled every last space within him. Jack lifted into the upper troposphere where Lord of Winter took refuge from the heat of the midworld. As he approached a gigantic face appeared in the clouds.

“And what dost thou intend?” Lord of Winter growled at him.

“Only this!” Jack shouted at him.

A few short years before Jack learned how to be a conduit for titanic forces in the battle against Etuchaand. He tapped into that memory, one where he existed in two different forms at the same instant, and held out his arms. A wave of force unlike any he ever created sprang out of his body. It grew in intensity as it moved forward, consuming the very energies of Thursar H’rim, and the clearly visible wave that distorted everything in it’s path struck the enormous visage of the Hallan elemental. It roared in fury. Lord of Winter sent a blast of frigid air at Jack, and Jack’s body absorbed it. Then he returned the blast.

“Thou dares…” Thursar H’rim started to bellow at him.

“Yes!” Jack shouted right back. “I don’t need… any… of your… pontificating at me. Biva is dead and I did nothing… to… defend… him.”

Pain that could engulf Earth welled up in Jack. In reaction he began to absorb the local energies to keep from falling into the dark pit that opened in him the first time he met Aita and never closed. Into it Jack poured every mote of energy he could reach. Lord of Winter howled again. It only took a brief second for the Guardian to realize he hurt the Hallan elemental man. Jack halted his intake and looked at his outstretched arms. The blue of his hoodie got completely covered with frost as did his pants. His skin looked alabaster. To his own eyes he appeared as nothing more than enraged specter, a wraith of frost and fury: a demon of winter.

“What hast thou become, Jack Frost?” Thursar H’rim asked in a cautious manner.

Jack’s head twitched back and forth as he continued to study his body and clothing.

“If thou seeks a feud with me, then surely…” Lord of Winter began to threaten.

“I will pull you from the sky and lay waste to your very essence,” Jack cut into the voice.

“Thou wouldst harm the children of the one who gives thee sanctuary?”

“I will protect the mortal children of this planet from your thoughtlessness… your impunity, Thursar. I would say your heart is cold, but you don’t even have one.”

A tense silence ensued, and then Thursar H’rim said: “And thou would lay waste to this world in doing battle with me. Thou would slay every living thing down below to assuage thineself of thy grief. Thou art as much a monster as thee would make of me.”

Lord of Winter landed a severe blow against Jack. The Guardian recoiled and drifted back from the mountain of a face that looked disorganized from the two attacks. He stared at his hand clasped the crook. The powerful cold winds swept around and through him, and he drank in the nascent energies to try and lend steadiness to his mind.

“Thou hast become unmade by the touch of the Flesh Hungerer, Jack Frost. The power of a first-born of Noro resides in thee, and yet thou art overcome by mortal wants. This is not natural, and thou becomes more like the being from thy world thee and thy comrades banished. Even now in this moment I do not recognize thee, Jack Frost, as the stripling that first arrived in my skies.”

Jack’s head snapped upward, partially propelled by heartbreak and rage, as he considered how to answer the elemental being. In the back of his mind he grew ill at the notion Thursar H’rim compared him directly to Aletha. Lord of Winter all but called him an abomination.

“I confess no knowledge resides in me of what thee suffers, and for this I am grateful since it would make of me a terror unto this world. I am content to bring the snows of winter, but thee… what power dost thee truly seek, Jack Frost? Wouldst thou again harbor senseless dreams of bringing defeat to The Breathless One? Hast thee become that mad in thy mortal follies?”

The Guardian opened his mouth to hurl invective at Lord of Winter, but nothing came out. Despite all the emotion racing through his veins, a piece of his mind heard what the Hallan elemental said. While it did not erase the anguish from his heart, it cooled his rage. Then his brain told him another important fact: he left Hiccup and Hasna defenseless on the island. For three heartbeats he stared Thursar H’rim. Then Jack departed in silence and flew back to the island. For the first time he saw it sat apart from a larger chain, yet he could not see a major landmass close by. A chill went through Jack when he reached warmer air. Somehow he knew it emanated from inside.

Jack returned to spot where he lost Biva and destroyed the creature. The surrounding jungle remained frozen even though the ice started to gleam with thaw in the blazing tropical heat. He turned in a circle and scanned the devastation he caused. Jack paused when he spied another figure hovering at the edge of the small clearing of the well. He stared at Isemaler.

“I can see you,” Jack said in a heavy voice.

“Are you going to hurt me?” She warily asked.

“No. That’s… passed now.”

The image of a young woman, barely out of her girlhood, dressed in a blue and somewhat furry jacket with a hood thrown back and stout brown pants drifted through frozen foliage. Jack noted she did not wear anything on her long feet. He also noticed her eyes remained fixed on the staff. However, he did not hand it to her when she got near enough.

“It feels strange to me now,” Jack answered one of the questions in her eyes.

“It doesn’t belong to you,” Isemaler gingerly stated in a light, high tenor voice. The very pale blue irises of her eyes flicked around as she studied him

“It did… once, and I think that’s why it came to me.”

Her eyes widened and she said: “Then you really are the First. But I thought… you’re mortal now.”

“Not completely. I can never be totally mortal. This will always live within me. It’s the only way I can survive being on Halla… no matter what form I take,” he theorized aloud for her benefit.

Isemaler drifted to one side of him, closer to the staff, and narrowed her eyes.

“Ask your questions,” Jack prompted her even though he wanted nothing more than to return to the hut and cry for a year over the loss of Biva.

“You attacked Lord of Winter. How?”

“To be honest… I don’t know. I knew I could do this,” and he glanced around the iced glade, “but not what I did up there. I don’t think my powers are tied to this world anymore. It’s why the Sickle feels odd to me.”

“Sickle?” Isemaler queried.

“I guess it’s not called that anymore. When I used the staff on my world, it was called the Sickle of Elada… after my creator, but it belongs here now.”

Around them ice started to melt as the oppressive tropical heat began to bear down on everything. Pieces of it fell to the thawing ground and smashed. Neither Jack nor Isemaler flinched as it happened. Jack realized he killed a large portion of the jungle on the north side of the island. It would take at least a decade to return to anything close to normal, he thought. It made him feel all the more sad about his actions and reactions. He frowned.

“Why did you do this? Do you hate this forest and this heat?” His second successor inquired.

“No, a creature here killed a child I loved very much,” Jack told her and stared at the pieces of snake-dragon thing that ended Biva’s life. “It tried to kill me, too, and I… reacted.”

“Saving yourself. I understand that,” Isemaler commented.

“No. It was… pain… emotional pain and hate drove me.”

Isemaler eyed him.

“I’ve know children who died in the past, but never one I… totally loved. It hurts so much,” Jack said and slowly whispered the words. “I hated that thing ‘cause it killed Biva. I wanted it dead.”

“When the Tat’atch-ka came for my people, I felt the same way. I tried to stop them…”

Her voice caught, and Jack said: “And they killed you for defending your family.”

“Threw me in the water. I started to freeze… sink. A person can’t live in the water,” Isemaler blankly stated.

“And Noro gave you the power of Isemaler.”

She nodded, and added: “But I did not hate them. I just wanted the Tat’atch-ka to go away and leave us alone.”

“Being a mortal changed me. Over twelve years now I lived on Berk… this world and… and I’m something different from when it started. It seems… so much longer than the three-hundred and fifty years I spent as Guardian…”

“Guardian?”

“What they call me back on my home world,” he explained.

“You keep saying that. Why?” Isemaler questioned.

“Home world?” He rejoined, and she nodded. “Because I’m not from this planet… not even this universe. I’m from someplace so far away I can’t even describe it to you… and, before you ask, I got here through magic.”

“So are you more like them or more like us? You came here to help the children… or at least that’s what Noro told me, but she never said you were from some place else and could do what I saw you do to Thursar.”

In Isemaler’s question and statements a disquiet Jack never knew existed took shape. It begged the question about who he became. He wordlessly stared at the new incarnation of the Hallan Spirit of Winter Joy. He could feel her presence and a brimming optimism tried to infect him. Jack looked down at his hands and at the crook. He slowly held it out to her. When she touched it, a power similar to his yet somehow foreign rippled across his pale skin. He watched as Isemaler physically reacted to the seemingly same sensation. Jack released the crook because he knew it no longer belonged to him and his awaited his return to Earth. The power into which he tapped began to immediately recede. Isemaler grew fainter by the moment until she disappeared in the sunlight. Her final question stayed with him as intense cold began to soak through the soles of his feet. Jack began to quickly trot across the ice toward the beach, and he felt hunted by thoughts.

When he reached the sandy beach, he stood warming his feet. Tears began to leak from his eyes as his heart remained broken at the death of Biva. He stared at the path he just left and wondered if he could ever use it again knowing what memory lay at the end. He recalled an old Algonquin saying that the killing of one person kills an entire universe. Jack at last understood what it really meant. All Biva could have been, the people he would have influenced, and the children he would help make all died within him. All that promise disappeared between the teeth of a beast. The knowledge did not settle Jack’s emotions. It seemed like a small age passed while he considered what the death of the small boy meant to him.

“Jack?” Hiccup whispered the name when he came upon the stationary from of his mate now in his mortal skin.

Jack heard the Viking walk in the sand as he approached, and turned his face to look at his husband. Red, puffy eyes gazed back at him. Hasna sat curled in his arms. Part of him rejoiced she survived, but he realized she survived alone without her brother. His eyes drifted back to the frozen devastation of the jungle.

“Did I become a monster, Hiccup?” He asked.

“No, you’re not a monster, Jack. I would’ve done the same thing,” Hiccup replied.

“I… attacked Thursar.”

“I heard it, but that doesn’t make you a monster.”

“Then what am I?” Jack begged as a fresh set of tears raced down his face.

“A man who loves… who can get hurt through that love… just like everyone on this planet.”

Before more words got said, Hiccup wrapped an arm around him. Jack nestled into the comfort of his mate. They cried together over their loss. He felt the form of Hasna between them.

“Ja?” She mumbled his name.

“Hasna?” He answered in a voice made coarse by sorrow.

“Beev?”

“In our hearts now, sweet girl.”


	14. Chapter 14

The atmosphere around the encampment and hut remained subdued for many days. It took four days for most of the ice to melt from the vegetation. The greenery wilted and began to rot under the hot sun of midworld. The ground would take much longer to thaw. The two men noticed a discernible absence of birds and insects. Far and above the ones that died in Jack’s staggering display of power, most others appeared to abandon the area. The artesian well took three days before it flowed again. Even their hut sustained damage. The fronds used to weave walls became brittle and dry. It meant they would likely need to replace all of it, and the fact added another somber layer to their mood.

Hasna suffered as much as the men who could fully fathom what occurred. Nightmares began to plague the girl. Most nights after the death of her brother she would not, or could not, sleep unless securely wedged between Hiccup and Jack. Their sleep got routinely interrupted as Hasna experienced terrifying visions her sleep. She would thrash about and yell, half in Berkian and half in her native tongue, about Biva and even Jack on occasion. Neither adult could sort out what she thought of witnessing Jack go through his transformation. Even during the day Hasna did not like to lose sight of either man. She would fret when either went off for one reason or another. Days and nights became a series of endless chores.

“I need to go back and find… whatever remains and bury him,” Jack informed Hiccup on the ninth day after the attack.

“I figured that’s what you were building,” and the Viking nodded to the small wooden box the Guardian constructed. “Can we go?”

“Do you really want to subject her to that?”

“Will she even know what… it is?”

Brown eyes met green and silence took over. After nearly a minute Jack nodded his head. Deep down he knew Hiccup needed closure as much as him. The loss of the boy effected both men to a greater degree than either could ever guess. Even after Jack felt they reached a silent accord, Hiccup continued to hold his eye.

“What?” Jack finally asked.

“I need to say something to you, and you won’t like it,” Hiccup stated and warned.

The Guardian narrowed his eyes.

“Jack, I know what happened to… him,” Hiccup said and cast a quick glance at Hasna who appeared to be otherwise mentally occupied, “hurt you bad. It hurt me bad… still is. It will probably always hurt.”

“And your point?” Jack brusquely inquired.

“Don’t pull away from her. She needs you. You need her. I need both of you.”

Hiccup grabbed him by both shoulders and pinned him with a fierce gaze.

“I’m not. I just…”

“Just nothing, Jack Jorgenson Haddock-Fries. I know you. I may not know all three-hundred and whatever odd years you’ve lived, but I know what inside of you,” the Viking sliced through the weak complaint. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened to Biva…”

“Beev,” Hasna quietly mumbled the word from where she sat and watched her two caretakers confront one another.

“Jack, I don’t know how or what it took to bring out your Guardian powers, but I thank the gods you did ‘cause we’d all be dead if you didn’t. And I know you’re beating yourself up ‘cause you think if only you did it a few seconds faster that he’d still be alive.”

“How would you know what…” Jack began to say in a pout.

“Because I watched Toothless kill my father! I watched my best friend kill the man I respected and loved so much I can’t even make sense of it. I sat around for years and years… and you know I did, I sat around blaming myself and saying if I only did this or I should’ve done that, and none of it worked. I finally had to admit there was nothing I could to save my dad. It sucks, I hate that fact, but I learned to accept it and move on,” Hiccup railed at his husband.

The Earthling narrowed his eyes.

“Get mad. Good! Get something,” the Viking verbally prodded him. “You were pocking mortal at that moment, Jack. That creature was going to kill you, and I’m pretty pocking sure it was coming after me and Hasna next. Don’t you get that?”

Jack opened his mouth.

“No. Don’t say anything stupid. Just remember that mortals don’t have a lot of control over very much of anything. This is what it means to be one of us. It means we can’t save everyone. Great Wotan, we can barely save ourselves most of the time!” Hiccup ranted before his mate could speak.

“I saw Aita take what was left,” the Guardian spoke in a dry voice. “I can still feel it.”

Hiccup’s mind raced in a panic. Since he could think of nothing better to do, he wrapped his arms around the thin man. Jack felt stiff and unyielding in the embrace. Hiccup squeezed him harder. Memories of Death, The Breathless One, assailed him. That Jack witnessed the final end of the boy – a permanent and real finality – explained much about Jack’s actions in the past week.

“Then simply love her, Jack. Hold her. Give her comfort in a way you can’t do as a Guardian. Let her see you as a real, living person… the one you are. The one I love,” the Hallan man almost begged with the words.

Jack raised his arms and held his mate. Hiccup correctly assessed him, and the Earthling knew it. He never guessed so much of his Guardian power remained in his body; moreover, it felt just as strong as what he used on Earth to create large snowstorms. For a brief second he realized he did, indeed, rival Lord of Winter. The realization gave him pause as it did for the past eight days. He wondered if any being should be able to control that much force, and especially one as young as him. Since he could think of nothing better to do, Jack inhaled Hiccup’s sent. It lent some stability.

“This is the cost of love,” Hiccup mumbled.

“It’s high,” Jack rejoined.

“And the reward… the reward is we can do it as much or a little as we want. It’s… weird, but love is kind of endless. I never really appreciated that.”

The two men hugged one another.

“She can lead you back, Jack. Just give her a chance,” Hiccup barely whispered.

He released his husband and stepped back. The Viking gazed at the remarkable man that owned his heart. It no longer mattered whether he thought of Jack as a Guardian or a Hallan mortal as he simply only saw Jack regardless of the clothes he wore.

“I’m going to wait outside.”

Jack watched his husband step through the doorway and into the outside world. Hasna started to turn to follow, but Jack quickly knelt and grabbed her shoulder. The girl craned her head about.

“I love you, sweet girl,” he began and panic nearly seized him. “I love you, and I loved Biva… so much. Both of you. And I’m sorry I couldn’t be what I needed to be right then. I didn’t know I could.”

Hasna spun around and walked into him. The side of her head brushed against his face. Jack’s arms slipped around the small body. He held her.

“Beev?” She mumbled.

“Biva is gone.”

With that Jack began to cry. For the first time he openly admitted the boy died, and his heart began to break again. The girl seemed to sink further into him. She said nothing, yet provided him a deep sense of reality. He knew she cared for him, and he knew she loved Hiccup. The dirty, fraying wrap around her body seemed to fragile to contain the child. She mumbled words into his chest as he the tears flowed from his eyes. Jack felt her body shudder. They stayed entangled as each expressed emotions neither could not verbally stated.

“I love you so much,” the Guardian said to her yet again when his throat eased.

“Love,” Hasna mumbled and perfectly spoke the word.

After untangling his arms, Jack held her out so he could see her face. Hasna looked too sad for one with such an indomitable will. Her eyes searched his. His left hand rose and cupped the side of her face. Hasna reminded him of so many different children he saw in various places on Earth. The beseeching in her visage told him no one really needed to be a Guardian to do what needed to be done. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. He could smell and taste her when he leaned back. Then he stood. Jack held out his hand. Hasna took it. Fear the love he felt for the child would one day betray him by becoming lost lanced through his mind and body, but the man did not release her hand. He gripped a little tighter. The mortal uncertainty of the future wiggled around his mind. Together they left the sagging hut.

The trio of people reached the dying and wilting location where the Biva met his end. The smell of rot and decay pervaded everything. More than just a child and an large reptile died. Smells of destruction made three stomachs turn.

“Yeah, I’m going to go take her to play with Nepta,” Hiccup said as he saw exactly why the girl should not be there. “We can go fishing, too.”

“Nepta. Go Nepta. Hic-ah fish,” Hasna rumbled as her serious face scanned the area she clearly found disturbing.

“I won’t be long,” Jack promised and nodded to his husband.

Hiccup picked up the child and began to leave the area.

“Ja?” She called out.

Jack walked up to her once the Viking halted. He kissed her on the cheek. Then he forced a smile onto his face.

“Nepta needs to play catch. Go find a coconut,” the Guardian answered the plea in her eyes in as cheerful a manner he found create.

Hasna eyed him for a second and then looked up at Hiccup. They both knew whatever other concerns she harbored could not compete against the chance to fish with the Viking. Hiccup swung her arm back and forth. While he continued to worry about Jack, he also conceded the Earthling would rise up to any challenge when it came to children. Hiccup realized he would do the same for the small child who held his hand. An glimmer of understanding as the emotional and psychological pressure Jack must live under as a Guardian staggered him. To care for an entire population of a world seemed incredibly daunting, but he saw Jack and his fellow Guardians in action. Besides, he thought, he trusted Jack.

“Let’s go find Nepta!” The Hallan man said in exaggerated excitement.

Hasna succumbed to the entreaty with a final glance at Jack. The two trotted off down the path littered with dead and dying plant life. Jack watched them until they reached the shoreline. He pivoted on one heel and faced the destruction meted out by his powers. A pang of guilt stabbed at him. It would take a decade or two before this part of the forest approached the same lush vitality as the rest of the island. With that final assessment, Jack steeled his mind and began a gruesome search. He could not guess what drove him to find the remains of the boy, but the man could not resist the compulsion. The varying sickly stenches forced him to concentrate as he bent his mind to the grim task.

On the beach a deeply tanned man wearing only tattered and threadbare pants played in the shallows with a small brown girl who shed her wrap to she could play in the water. A large sea dragon, not quiet a leviathan, splashed around in the water as it awaited the short flight of a coconut. The girl could not throw far, but it did not seem to matter to the creature. Every now and again the man would take a turn, and the dragon would dart farther out into the sea to retrieve the object. For over an hour the two humans enjoyed sport with the sea beast. From a distance one could only see happiness. The blue-green water reflecting the sky, spotted with the white caps of small waves driven by the ever-present wind, made for a serene backdrop for the dragon as it dove and surfaced. The girl giggled, laughed, and yelled in delight. The man appeared strangely relieved.

Three days later the trio of people sat huddled under the only non-leaking section of their hut. It rained for two days when the southern edge of a minor squall lashed their island. The already bedraggled hut took a further beating; however, it did not entirely collapse.

“When it clears, we fix this,” Hiccup stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

“We’ll need fronds… a lot of fronds,” Jack reminded him.

“Fron?” Hasna inquired from where she sat in the only truly dry area of the hut and played with her collection of pretty pebbles and shells.

“Frond, sweet girl,” the Earthling carefully repeated the word, and he picked up a piece of one laying on the ground. “F-f-f… r-r-r… ahn… dt.”

“Fron,” Hasna said with certainty as she took the bit of frond from the man.

Hiccup snickered, and Jack smirked a real one for the first time since Biva perished.

The rains brought more humidity to the island, a feat that seemed impossible to both men. Both wore shorts they fashioned from scraps of clothing they found on the eastern shoals. Hasna ran naked through the hut and on the beach. The adults debated whether they should allow her, but Hiccup asked who would notice or complain. They then discussed what to do about clothing for the girl in the future as she grew. It seemed wiser to begin dressing her similar to their attire. Shorts and shirt would stand her well on the island instead of a dress or the wrap in which they found her. It meant going back to the shipwreck fields. Although he hated to admit it after years and years of associating with Nicholas Saint North, Jack told Hiccup he did not know how to sew. Hiccup stated the same. After a few minutes of staring blankly at one another, they went back to discussing the repairs needed on the hut.

“I’ve got some ideas about improvements,” Jack mumbled while they sketched with charred wood on section of wall.

Hasna decorated a separate area, and she began to turn black from the ash the covered her hands. Her face got dotted with dark spots where she touched herself. Whatever she attempted to draw did not make sense to either man, but she seemed pleased as the short section of wall turned slowly into a gray-black smear.

“Does it involve tools we don’t have?” Hiccup asked while narrowing his eyes.

“Um… maybe, but I think we can make them.”

“For what?”

“To cut lengths of young amboo tree,” Jack said the word that got augmented by Hasna, “to reinforce the walls and maybe build a second floor.”

“Second floor… Jack, seems like you’re planning on being here a while,” the Viking rumbled.

“Have you seen a single ship pass by since we’ve been here?”

Hiccup slowly shook his head.

“Or aerial dragons we can tame?”

The senior dragon rider twitched his head again, but then said: “What about building a boat, a bigger one than what we arrived in, and getting Nepta to pull it?”

“Nepta! Co-nut! Fish!” The girl warbled out the words. “Hasna fish. Nepta play.”

“When did that start?” Jack said and glanced at the girl.

“You need to pay closer attention, Jack. She listens to everything you say… everything you teach her. She’ll be talking in full sentences soon… I think.”

“And her first language is lost to her,” the Earthling quietly stated.

“Jack?”

“Nothing, but… I think it’d be nice if we knew some of her original language. Someone might recognize it one day and she…”

“Could go home? What home? Where? This is her home. We’re her home!”

Hiccup spoke with such heat in his voice it made both Jack and Hasna pause. They stared at the Hallan adult. He looked angry.

“Hic-ah?” The child seemed to query with the name.

“No, I’m not angry at you, Hasna. Him. Jack,” Hiccup said and point to the Guardian.

“Ja, no,” Hasna said and pursed her lips in apparent disapproval.

“That wasn’t my point,” Jack retorted and shot a look at his mate. “My point is she will notice a lot of things about herself that isn’t like us. She’s going to want to know something about who she is and where she came from. I’m not sure telling Hasna…”

“Ja, no,” Hasna repeated at the sound of her name although she resumed her haphazard drawing.

Hiccup snorted a little. Jack suppressed a desire to smile. After days where she would only utter a few words, Hasna seemed to be recovering from the death of her brother and the sudden, destructive appearance of Jack Frost. Both Hiccup and Jack did not think she made any association between the one she called Ja and Jack Frost.

“How satisfied will she be to know we found her and B… Biva in a boat with her dead parents and another dead sibling somewhere in the midworld seas?”

Hiccup did not answer. The thought crossed his mind as he watched when she slept or early in the morning when she clung to either him or Jack waiting for breakfast. Like Jack, she would be alone of her kind among the Berkians if they managed to get home. Even without being on Berk it would become readily obvious to her the two men could not be her original parents. In this way Biva’s death became even more cruel toward her.

“She’ll ask. She’s like you, you know?” Hiccup stated.

“In what way?” His husband rejoined in a cautious manner.

“Can’t leave well enough alone. Has got to know everything that’s going on around her.”

“Oh, like I’m the only adult here who’s like that, Mister I’m-Going-to-Trap-Dragon-Farts. You and Fishlegs almost got killed with that idea,” Jack rounded on him, but the amusement could not be erased from his voice.

“Ever think maybe were not the – I don’t know – best role models for children?”

Hiccup’s comment diffused the blooming argument, but the issue remained. They would need to figure out what to tell her. Jack wanted to tell her the absolute truth of her origins when the time came, but Hiccup could not shake the feeling it might alienate the girl if they did. He sighed and looked at the scrap of woven wall they used to draft a reconstruction plan. Neither seemed to realize Hasna followed their lead as she covered her arms and hands in soot.

Jack displayed his clever mind, and Hiccup augmented it. Instead of making saws as Jack intended, they made better axes. The Guardian’s idea of wedging sharp stones in slots cut into a piece of timber never managed to become a viable scheme. The stone would pop out of mortices regardless of the wood jammed in around the pieces. Tying the pieces of into place fared no better. In the end the two returned to making a higher quality axe.

Rebuilding their hut, even to a minimal degree, meant going back into the jungle. Hasna violently reacted the first time they tried to take her in. Only when she stood between Hiccup and Jack holding both their hands would she allow herself to be slowly lead toward the interior. Neither man could fault her reaction. The night before they discussed the fact they did not know whether more of the snake-dragon creature roamed the jungle. Jack speculated they never saw enough tracks to indicate more than one. Regardless, Hasna made them extra cautious.

Neither fortune nor folly met them along the way. They faced a tremendous amount of work. The plans for the expanded hut meant they need to gather a greater amount of material. With the jungle denuded for a quarter of a mile in either direction, it forced them walked greater distances. However, aside from gather building materials, they got the chance to replenish their fruit and vegetable supplies. For nearly two weeks they ate nothing but fish, and the diet grew stale. The wide variety of plants and trees, a variety only Fishlegs could love because he would fill two books cataloging it, became a welcomed sight. Thus for five days they returned hauling stout amboo stalks, food, and fronds. They worked through two days of rain on top of everything else.

It took another four days to realize they entered the rainy season. Each morning dawned gray, the rain poured out of the sky during the day, and most nights it coated them in an uncomfortable drizzle. Regardless the trio continued with their project. Hasna got assigned tasks suited for small hands. Slowly but surely, under the alternating critical eyes of Hiccup and Jack, the construction took shape. They made flooring for both the main floor and second floor. Trios of amboo poles got lashed together for loading bearing beans and supports. The days got divided between building and hunting for materials. Over four-eights passed since Biva’s death before they finally stood and looked at the completed and expanded first floor. Rain fell over them.

“At least we’ll be dry now,” Hiccup rumbled.

“Not really. The gaps in the flooring will still let water through ‘til we put the roof on,” Jack returned as he analyzed the structure that suffered numerous changes in plan when they discovered some ideas to be unworkable.

“Another wet night, huh?” The Viking rhetorically inquired in a resigned tone.

Jack gave him an apologetic nod. The extent of the renovation took longer than expected, as they realized it would early on, but the rainy season threatened to go on for several more weeks. The constant state of dampness made life difficult. Food rotted at an exponential rate. Clothes ripped and tore with ease. Hasna graduated to shorts and a modified shirt faster than expected. Her muslin wrap began to literally disintegrate from her body. Jack worried incessantly the bark twine would shrink and become loose when the dry weather returned, and his concern infected Hiccup. Despite all that, they continued to work at a decent pace. They made sure, however, that Hasna got to play with Nepta every evening. Both dragon and girl appeared satisfied by arrangement.

“You were right about something you said a while back,” Jack began a new discussion as he prepared the non-soggy bits of food he could find. None of looked very appealing.

“And…?” Hiccup prodded when the Earthling paused.

“I’m beginning to accept we may never leave this island. I’ve been watching the weather and the currents, and this island is a deathtrap for ships. I think captains sail as far around it as they can,” Jack explained his thinking.

“You’re assuming our friends and family gave up on us,” the Viking rejoined while picking a biting bug off his chest. All of them wore marks from the insidious little insect that multiplied like a mad craze in the wet weather. “I admit it’s starting to look doubtful, but… they’re resourceful, and if Toothless made it home…”

Hiccup halted. His statement bordered on admitting the night fury might not be alive or got permanently lost somewhere on Halla. Regardless of his impressive homing skills, the dragon got caught in a violent storm in place far from home. Even Toothless’ vaunted abilities would be sorely tested. However, Hiccup refused to believe his dragon met his end. Through the few months following the storm and shipwreck, the Hallan admired the way his mate bore up on the loss of IceSpike. Jack seemed too convinced the woolly howl did not escape a watery end. Hiccup saw no reason to doubt what Jack saw. The loss of Biva frightened the Viking for the Guardian: Jack suffered two catastrophic deaths in a short time. Moreover, he got proof positive the boy no longer existed.

“Until my beard turns white, I’m not counting them out,” he spoke as much to his internal thought as to his husband.

“That thing tickles and itches me, by the way, and I wish I could find a razor somewhere,” Jack complained about his mate’s facial hair.

“That scrub on your chin is nothing to be proud of. Why is it you don’t look like you’ve aged a day?”

The Earthling shrugged. He could see ample signs of his aging when he spied himself in a mirror, polished piece of metal, or reflected in the water. Furthermore, sometimes he thought he could feel himself growing older. Jack wanted to bring up the topic of genetics, but it annoyed Hiccup who counted by saying exactly what family granted him his body. The question could not be satisfactorily answered. His mouth stayed shut.

“In the meantime, we keep building ‘til we’re happy. It gives us something to do,” Hiccup returned to the original topic.

“We could try farming. We could cultivate quite a few of the vegetables,” Jack opined.

“What I wouldn’t give for some wheat? I miss bread.”

“Me, too, but we’d need eggs and butter… and I don’t see any chickens or yaks around.”

They stared at one another. Hasna worked on her masterpiece and it now flowed onto another section of wall. They warned her drawing on the new walls would not be allowed. If she understood what they said, she hid her understanding. Over the weeks when she busied herself with charcoal from their pit, at least the pieces not soaked through, the girl began to develop a style. She liked swirls and whorls. Jack appreciated that from his days as the ice painter called Isemaler. He picked at spot on his neck where a midge got him while mentally critiquing the new drawing.

“Didn’t you warn me not to scratch too much or it might get infected ‘cause gods-know-what these things are?” Hiccup dryly asked.

The Guardian forced his hand downward, and then he said something his brain blurted in his mind: “I bet it’ll be Ruffnut and Tuffnut that finds us. They’ll go on some Loki-quest and accidentally fly into the island.”

“My money is on Astrid. She’s pretty pocking tenacious… and if she thinks I’m trying to hide from her…”

Jack began to laugh at the appraisal of their mutual friend. Since fighting alongside them to drive Etuchaand from Halla, a deep and warm friendship reemerged between the Hiccup and Astrid. Both Fishlegs and Snotlout informed Jack the two acted more like brother and sister than friends. It made Jack inwardly smile to think Hiccup put his faith in a person from whom he distanced himself for ten years.

“It’s better to hope than not, isn’t it?” Jack asked, but he did not expect an answer since he already knew it.

“Sort of reminds of that first summer when you came to Berk. You heard the children asking if Isemaler was going to come back. I think they would’ve believed Isemaler into existence if one didn’t show up. Then Grimtooth outdid himself that first year. Remember how crazy it was?” The Viking quietly pondered.

“He was better at it than me.”

“I don’t see it like that. Never have.”

“Why?”

“Well,” Hiccup said and sat up.

“Wa-wer,” Hasna piped up.

Jack opened his mouth, but Hiccup continued: “I don’t think any of the Isemalers after you could do what you do on Earth. What the children face there is… it’s unimaginable to be honest. Here the kids need to have fun in the winter. Isemaler and Jack Frost are two completely different people… even when you were both of them.”

“You really thought about this,” Jack commented.

“I’m the only one who ever really got to see all three sides of you.”

“Three… oh, yeah. But during the fight with Aletha…”

“What? An hour or two doesn’t really count. The others got to see what you could do, but they never got the chance to see why you do it. I saw it on Earth. The Guardians love you, Jack. Jamie… that expression on his face when he looked at you. He’d walk through fire for you. None of the others ever saw that.”

Jack’s mouth fell open. For eleven years Hiccup held that inside. The words his husband spoke shortly after Biva’s death came back to him. Love could be very painful, sometimes agonizingly so, but the rewards became manifest at the most surprising times. He gazed in wonder at the Hallan with whom he fell in love.

“The day I first saw you on that island asking if something was wrong with you… I never heard anyone talk to himself… herself like that. I never did until I became a Guardian, but not quiet in the same way,” Jack found himself speaking before he could think it through. “You… gods, Hiccup, you understood what it meant to have real responsibility. You made me feel less alone in that one second.”

“You scared the crap out me when you said the word nothing,” Hiccup said and smiled at the memory.

“Hiccup, just so you know, if we never get rescued… I think I’m okay with that.”

The Viking mouth fell open and he looked gobsmacked.

“It’s because I’m here with you. I wish we had our… dragons, but you’re what I need to keep me going. Hasna now…”

“Ja,” Hasna almost mindlessly said his name. It became something of a game with her to repeat their names when she heard hers.

“Sweet girl, I need you too,” Jack said and felt a sense of panic rise in him. He pushed it down and faced a harsh reality.

She broke off from her drawing and looked in their direction. Her dark eyes darted back and forth between the men. A slow smile came over her face for a reason neither man could fathom. Then she returned to her art.

“You’re right: I can’t save them all, and especially not as a mortal,” he confessed to his Hallan husband.

“Not even as a Guardian,” Hiccup filled in an essential piece, and his voice dropped in volume. “Mortal life is messy. Unpredictable. Neither one of us knew that snake with legs was there. I never saw it.”

Hiccup watched as two tears streaked down his mate’s cheeks before he said: “Sometimes I wonder if your Moon Father knew what he was doing when he gave you this life. I mean, look, what does he really know about being mortal? He never was one.”

“Like I always tell you when you say that: I think that’s the reason he did it. It means I’ll know things he never did… or could. It all sort of puts my powers into perspective.”

“And Biva’s death?”

“Beev,” Hasna quietly, very quietly, said to herself while she stared as the dark spiral she created on the wall.

“How one small, almost insignificant life can change everything,” Jack answered in the same manner the girl spoke.” I think it took the Man in the Moon millions and millions of years to even get a glimpse of that understanding… and now it lives in me. The immortals here don’t understand it either, ‘cept for maybe Noro. She loves life, too.”

“Then being stuck here with me and her?” Hiccup pressed the point.

“Well, we always did want to spend time together, and that one will probably keep us from killing each other.”

Hiccup chuckled. He expected a good answer, and Jack gave him a better one. He let his eyes sweep around the hut as it currently stood. In a few days it would look even more different as they continued their work. The Viking acknowledged that he and his mate built something entirely new on the island than anything they did on Berk. The addition of children, and the loss of one, made it seem as important as anything they achieved in the past. In an entirely novel fashion, Hiccup saw a future that did not center on him or Jack, dragons, their friends, Berk, or the people there. He got a peek at a future that did not include him, except it would not exist if they failed Hasna.

“Hiccup?” Jack queried when the silence lingered.

“Hic-ah,” Hasna repeated and did not seem aware she even said it.

“I think I finally really get what my father did when he took that blast from Toothless. It wasn’t about him or what he wanted… ‘cept I think it was it was. It’s all so tied together,” Hiccup replied as the complicated enlightenment took hold.

“Big knot of ribbons?”

“Yeah, very big knot!”

Nick’s analogy seemed entirely apt at the moment. They looked at each other, and then together they shifted their gaze to the girl who occupied herself with making a mess of the walls. She seemed content for all the hardships she endure for the past few months. The absence of Biva made it feel more poignant for the two men. Hiccup felt a new resolve harden in his mind.

“We can’t stay stuck here, Jack. If something happens to us…” he began and did not finish.

“I know,” the Guardian rejoined and fear edged through him about what the future could really portend. “We should follow your idea. The one about the boat.”

“Gonna take a lot of work. We’re not taking about a small craft like the one that brought us here. We’re going to need to be able to sail it,” Hiccup rejoined and wondered exactly what tipped the scales in Jack’s mind.

“And how much time do we have on our hands?”

The Hallan man nodded.

“Besides, you’ve been sailing your whole life an…”

“Not at much since Toothless came along,” Hiccup corrected him, but added: “But I know enough. Gobber and me used to fix and prep the longboats when I was younger, so it’s not like I don’t know anything.”

“The way you were talking about this before it sounded like you thought we should build a good sized vessel,” Jack said. He managed to finish his main thought.

“Jack, this could do a lot damage to the jungle.”

“It’ll recover. Think about how it looks around the well already.”

Both saw how the forest in the area the suffered Jack’s frost blast already began to make a recovery. Several of the dead palm trees fell as the ground got saturated from the constant rain. Delicate flowers, ferns and other plant life dotted the ruined landscape. It appeared the southern climes recuperated with rapidity, and Jack recalled hearing something about that on a television program long ago.

“And will stick to using amboo since they’re flexible and compartmentalized. They’ll float. Plus their bark is water-resistant. That’ll help,” Jack added.

From there they sat under the dripping ceiling, the flooring for the second story, and discussed what the scale and size of the boat to make a cross across the ocean. Replicating the Island Miss seemed completely out of the question, but if they could craft a vessel a third the size it might be able to make a seagoing voyage. An hour into their planning found Hasna standing next to the table grumbling about hunger. Water-streaked ash and soot covered her hands and arms, part of one leg, and a smudged hand print adorned the side of her neck.

“Cook or bath?” Hiccup asked first.

“Bath,” Jack gamely took the option. “I could use a dip myself.”

“Say hello to Nepta.”

“Nepta,” Hasna gleefully said the name.

“We’re not playing catch,” Jack warned her.

“Wanna bet?” Hiccup warned Jack.

The two men snickered at the exchange. While Hiccup went to the storage chest to find some non-soggy or non-waterlogged food, Jack led the girl out of the hut toward the beach. The sky got rippled with a variety of colors. Peach and red dominated the eastern horizon where the sun set, and a velvety indigo reigned on the western side. In between salmon turned to a strange aquamarine before the hue darkened. It looked very pretty, Jack thought, as Hasna tugged on his arm to make him move faster.

In the hut Hiccup heard Jack call out to the sea dragon, and then the gurgling trumpet response. Inside the food chest he found fish he did not trust and set it aside. It looked to be a meal of fruit and vegetables, something they would all eat. Finding half a coconut caught him up sharp. It reminded him Biva and how the child would not eat anything unless completely hidden by a coconut and a fruit juice mash Jack invented. The sight caused a cascade effect in the man. He sat down next to the chest and began to weep. Since deciding to cross midworld, life became treacherous for he and Jack. A happy cruise turned into a nightmare that would not end. The death of Biva, so unfair to both men and unjust to the child, seemed to be the nadir of their existence in the last several months. As the grief and sorrow poured out Hiccup, emotions he kept in check so Jack would not slip further into self-doubt or self-loathing because he thought he failed the boy, the Viking began to make wild plans.

“We’re getting off this pocking rock and back home,” he grumbled with a hoarse voice as the larder. “I hate this place.”

On the beach Jack and Hasna played in the water. They managed to both remove the grime from the girl and entertain the water dragon. Nepta like to swim around them and bump so they landed with a splash in the water. Sometimes they would snake one of his, or hers, dorsal ridges and go for a short ride. Jack marveled at the manner in which Nepta kept the girl from sinking below the surface, even when she fell. It reminded him of a fabled television canine who constantly got called upon to save it’s moronic master, a ten-year old boy, from almost certain death on a weekly basis. Jack realized Hasna would never grow to be that stupid. The first dragon rider of the north and a former mythical being would oversee her education. Nepta would also add to her learning.

“Even if we’re stuck here, we’ll make due,” he told Hasna and Nepta. “We’ll be okay.”


	15. Chapter 15

When Hiccup dedicated himself with equal ferocity to building both a house and a boat, Jack took it as sign of restlessness. The lack of people other than another man and girl child did not offer a very wide variety, no matter how much they loved one another. The water dragon added to the mix, but only when they spent time as the edge of the ocean. Thus, the dual projects became a focal point for the Hallan and, eventually, the Earthling. The second, smaller Hallan never seemed to run out of interesting ways to keep herself occupied and her guardians in a state of panic.

The house came to completion first. The three stepped back into the sands and eyed their handiwork. The main floor now consisted of four rooms and the second added another two. Each measured roughly twelve by twelve feet. Use for each would likely vary, but the upper two would be used as bedrooms. The lower rooms would serve as dinning and living area, a kitchen and pantry, a workroom, and the forth hid a privy along with the stairs to the second level. Windows with roll-down curtains got cut into walls for each room. Rudimentary doors offered some sense of security and additional privacy. It also looked very sturdy since they worried about the effect of a major storm striking the island. That seemed more a given than a slim possibility.

“Welcome home,” Hiccup said with a sense of smug determination.

“'Ome,” Hasna repeated. “'Ome?”

“A place where we live together as a family,” Jack said, and he waited for almost three eight-days to say those very words. “Home. Hasna, Hic-ah, and Ja… home.”

She held their hands and stared at the building. Hiccup and Jack saw her mumble the word to herself. It seemed a safe bet she would add it to her growing lexicon by the end of the day, and would begin to use it in sentences.

“We need more furniture,” Hiccup mumbled.

“I got that covered. Now that the house is done, I’ve got enough to work with to make proper beds and dressers,” Jack replied.

“And the boat?”

“There’s a whole jungle out there.”

Hiccup turned and gave the the trees on the other side of the denuded area a fierce glare. The man looked angry about something. Over the past several weeks, Jack noticed an edge crept into his mate. He remained kind and loving to him and Hasna, but he worked as if chased by a skrill. Hiccup did not waste a single minute of daylight, and the fact they got half a day’s worth stood as a testament to their proximity to midworld.

“I think we should take a week off, relax, and enjoy what we’ve accomplished,” Jack suggested on the heels of his thoughts.

“Why?” Hiccup questioned in protest. “We’re on tear, Jack. We should keep going and just finish the boat. It won’t take that long.”

“Oh? How long is not that long?”

The Viking shrugged and said: “Maybe a month… little more if we don’t catch a break with the weather.”

“Another four or five eight-days at this pace is going to kill us, Hiccup. What are you so hell-bent…”

“What?”

“Himmel-focused on building the boat so fast?” Jack finished his question using a Hallan substitute for one phrase.

For the first time in weeks, the two men confronted one another. Hiccup tried to control his reaction, but he feared getting too comfortable on the island. It would lull them into thinking they could make a life there when they barely survived in the first place. Anger that Jack became complacent and lackadaisical shot through his mind even though facts argued against it. The man frowned as he looked at his mate who happened to be frowning as well. Hiccup did not want to make it an argument. He would let their success at building the house speak for him.

“Out with it,” Jack ordered. “Something’s gotten into your head and I want to know what it is.”

Hiccup scowled, kicked at the sand and said: “We already talked about all of it. I just don’t know why you’re not eager to build this boat. Are you happy here?”

Jack rolled his eyes, thus making Hiccup angrier and said: “So now you want to cross the ocean with a two-year… two and a half-year old… maybe three-year old when we don’t have a single chart or know what the weather is going to be like? What has gotten into you, Hiccup?”

“This is not our home!” The Viking burst with ire. “It will never be our home, Jack! It’ll be our grave… and her grave. Is that what you want? Do you want to die separated from everyone you know and love on this planet?”

In a soft, almost gentle voice, Jack replied: “I don’t want to watch anyone else I love drown at sea. I don’t want to hear Aita’s voice in the water.”

Hasna stood between the men and her head flopped from side to side depending on who spoke. Hiccup and Jack bickered, but they never argued in front of her. She appeared either concerned or cross at the development. Jack felt her squeeze the two fingers onto which she held. Hiccup looked down at precisely the same time.

“No one’s mad at you, Hasna,” Hiccup said in a calm. “I’m just trying to remind Ja we need to get off this island.”

“And I’m not mad at you, either, sweet girl. Hic-ah’s is trying to get ahead of himself.”

Hiccup jerked his head upward. He hated it when Jack used a patronizing tone, even if he directed it at a child. The Guardian, in the Hallan’s estimation, did not appreciate the severity of their situation. They could not let themselves think of the place as home or else they would loose their will to escape the island. However, hearing his mate mention The Breathless One did cool his temper a bit. Jack’s sudden transformation into his Guardian form returned his ability to see and hear Death. Hiccup did not envy the man that aspect.

“Hiccup, you’re being irrational. I thought that was my territory as a former mythical being?” Jack said and tried to add some levity to leaven the tension.

“Jack, the more we do here to make ourselves comfortable, the harder it will be to leave. We have to do it now while we still remember where our home really is,” Hiccup rejoined and ignored the joke.

In the muggy heat of the later afternoon with a thin mist slowly coating them, the two eyed one another in an effort to assess the other. It did not do them any good. Jack could see Hiccup refused to budge from his position, and stubbornness got built into Viking DNA. In the same vein, Jack did not see the sense in rushing through the building process. He thought tactically as the Guardians taught him, although half the time he simply liked to wing it. In this case, lives would be at stake.

“My home, Hiccup Horrendous Fries-Haddock… the third is wherever you are… and now she’s part of it. What you’re asking me – us – to do is threatening that home. I thought we agreed on that?” Jack calmly tried to explain, except he knew he made a mistake using Hiccup’s full name.

“Jackson Overland Jorgenson Haddock-Fries,” Hiccup said in a commanding tone and Jack’s mouth flopped open.

Jack only said his real mortal Earth name once to the Viking because, regardless of where he lived, power came with his real name. That Hiccup would memorize it both impressed and unnerved him. Fortunately the man mixed in parts of his Hallan name, and it went some ways in mitigating the possible fallout. However, the usage did impart a complete and total sense of seriousness on Hiccup’s part.

“We can’t stay here. This isn’t who we are, and I know who you are in more than one place,” the Hallan said with a tense conviction. “We need to find a way back home, Jack. They know by know something happened to. By my calculation, we should’ve arrive back on Berk weeks ago.”

“Do you really think they’re going to send out longboats this far looking for us? They’d never make it,” Jack countered, still rattled by hearing his name, and then saw a strange glint in Hiccup’s eyes. He witnessed that look only in certain circumstance. “If he made it back to Berk, Toothless’ll wait there for you for as long as it takes.”

Hiccup took his turn at being flabbergasted. Jack did know him, knew how to read him, and proved it in the quick assumption he made. Moreover, Jack hit the mark. The death of the boy reminded the Viking of the transience of life and relationships. He did not disagree with the Earthling that a large sense of home resided between them and the life they forged together, but Hiccup could not so easily dismiss the other elements of his life. A question formed in his mind, and his mouth started moving.

“Don’t you care about the others who are worried to death…”

“You don’t get to say that!” Jack unexpectedly shouted at him.

Hasna let go of the Earthling’s hand and stepped back behind Hiccup. Jack steadied himself. Then he glared at Hiccup.

“You only get to say that when you know Toothless is dead!”

Hiccup growled, but it got wasted. Jack spun on one heel and stomped away from the beach toward the house. The stiff set of his mate’s shoulders informed he went one step too far. While they both recoiled and dealt with the loss of Biva, Hiccup never forgot Jack also faced the loss of IceSpike. The Viking no longer doubted the Guardian saw the dragon perish under the surface of the stormy sea. Whatever arguments he could make for building the ship with all due haste would be wasted. Jack would not listen to him as he wrestled with his emotions, primarily anger and grief.

Tears slid down Jack’s face as he pounded out his rage through his feet. He never denied Hiccup first formed his lifelong bond with Toothless long before the Guardian fell through the sky onto Halla. In many ways, Jack knew that relationship would always overshadow the one they made. However, to casually throw about the concept of death when he suffered two significant losses seemed cruel and heartless. Sometimes Hiccup could forget about the feelings of others in his zeal to achieve a goal. Anger propelled the man as he wiped watery streaks from him eyes. There would be no more discussion about the boat that day.

Neither did they discuss it the follow day nor the one after that. It took four days before Hiccup broached the subject, and Jack promptly shut him down by suggesting if he wanted to build a boat, then the Viking better get started. The Earthling made no offer to help. Hiccup got torn between guilt and ire: guilt because he got it started and ire because Jack turned bullheaded in the best of Viking traditions. Without Jack’s assistance, Hiccup could do little more then collect materials from the forest. Even then he ran the chance of not getting exactly what they needed. The plans for the ship lay unfinished in one of the new rooms. True to his word, the Guardian occupied himself with crafting furniture. Because he found work, Hasna switched her attention Jack.

“Now we need to finish squaring this off, and then we can go find a thin rock to use as the base,” Jack explained to the girl. “Once we attach the frame to rock and make a lid, we should have a decent steamer box.”

“Team bock,” Hasna ritualistically tried to repeat the last two words.

“Want some help looking for as stone. It might take a while to find one that long… that’s thin enough,” Hiccup offered and suggested.

“If you want. I don’t know if this going to work, but a steamer box will come in handy for making chairs and other things for the house.”

Hiccup nodded. He tried to hide his frustration, but Jack’s blatant refusal to mention anything about the boat stung. It reminded him of the time when he would not assist with the building of the water wheel during their six months of separation before battle with Etuchaand. No matter how hard he and Fishlegs tried, they could not craft the pieces they needed without the skilled hands of Jack. The project languished until after the private ceremony by the Defenders of Berk to honor the memory of Grimtooth Isemaler. Once Jack began helping again, he spotted a number of poorly executed pieces and re-crafted then. Then he and Snotlout went through the process of reinforcing the entire contraption. It worked on the second attempt once Jack got involved. On the island, moreover, Hiccup knew he could not build a boat on his own.

“Do you need any more amboo?” Hiccup further tried to ingratiate himself.

“Not yet. Not for a while,” Jack declined. “Still got a lot of scrap left from the house construction. I don’t want to needlessly hack apart the jungle.”

The Viking breathed heavily through his nose.

“I’m not the one who started this, Hiccup, and I sure as himmel won’t take part in it any more,” the Guarding in hiding coolly responded to the nose.

“Do you disagree we need to get off this island?” Hiccup rumbled.

“Did you ever hear me say that?”

“No.”

“So your accusations on the beach we misplaced, and the way you tried to defend your actions…”

Hiccup squirmed in his chair. In the back room they could hear pieces of amboo clatter around as Hasna tried to sort through them. As soon as the tone of their voices shifted, she removed herself. The girl did not like to listen to them argue, and neither man could fault her. However, it did not ease the fact they verged on another argument.

“How many times do I need to apologize?” Hiccup asked in a tight fashion.

“Once would be nice,” Jack said without raising his voice, and he steadfastly refused to be drawn into the debate.

“I…” the Hallan man began to say and halted. Hiccup racked his brain to see if he did apologize, but he could not recall ever getting around to it over the past several days. He sighed and said: “Jack, I’m sorry for what I said about… that. I really am, but do you know why I said it?”

“Fear.”

“Fear? Fear of what?”

“Fear you’re going to die in a strange place and in a way you never expected. Fear it might happen to me. Fear it might happen to her,” the man from Earth intoned as he measured and marked a piece of wood. “More, Hasna!”

The oddly hollow knocking sound, unique to the type of tree they used, echoed from behind. Jack’s call effectively stalled Hiccup from responding before he could think through an answer. He leaned against the new table Jack built in a single day. It easily held his weight.

“You’re right: I don’t want any of us to die here. We still don’t know if more of those giant snakes with legs are creeping around. We never searched. Not after… that,” the Viking said in a controlled manner.

“I’ll ask you again: do you want to trade one danger for another? You know we run a greater risk dying at sea, right?”

Jack heard Hasna approach and held out a hand. First one piece and then another got handed to him. He glanced down and grinned at the girl.

“Thank you,” the man properly stated.

“Elcomb,” Hasna quipped. “More?”

Jack held up a hand and displayed three fingers. Hasna repeated the gesture. Jack pointed to his index finger.

“One,” he said.

“One,” Hasna clearly repeated.

“Two.”

“Two.”

“Three,” the Guardian concluded.

“Free,” the girl tried to say.

“Close enough for now,” Jack told her. “Three more pieces, please.”

“Tay,” she said, and turned on one foot and trotted back to the storeroom containing the privy and stairs.

“She might be genius,” Hiccup remarked with noticeable pride.

“Could be all she went through jump started her brain… or maybe it’s genetic. Even on Earth they don’t know what causes advanced and accelerated intelligence,” his mate said and then looked him squarely in the eye. “Until we come up with a way to make a sea crossing with as much reduced risk as we can calculate, I’m not helping you with a scheme that will get either you or her killed. Do you understand me?”

“I’m not a child, Jack, so ease up,” the Viking retorted and showed his hackles got raised. “But I’m not going to sit around and do nothing. I’ll start making a plan with or with you and, even if you don’t want to help, I’m building a boat to leave this place. Do you understand?”

A knot of anger formed in Jack’s gut when Hiccup perfectly imitated the way he said the last line. He nodded. Hiccup held his eye for a moment. Then he went to the storeroom where Hasna tried to wrangle three or more pieces of amboo. She still did not quite grasp the full significance of numbers, but she took to learning them. The Guardian agreed with the Viking’s assessment: the girl truly did show genius potential. With that thought he resumed working on the steamer box. A minute later he spied Hiccup slipping out of the house with an axe in his hand. Jack sighed.

“Hic-ah fish?” Hasna asked at his elbow.

“Hic-ah… chop tree,” Jack said. Then he imitated the motion with his hand against a piece of wood. He held out his hands, and Hasna deposited four piece of wood. He smiled and told her: “This is four.”

She smiled in return. He ruffled her hair, and Hasna tossed a frown at him.

Since she provided him enough material to last him a short while, Jack handed Hasna a drawing stick he contrived. She ran to the place where they made extra mats from the surplus of fronds cut to finish the doors and walls. The men made the girl a number of drawing sheets to spare the newly finished structure her artistic attempts. Jack fumbled with one of the additional charcoal sticks. Hasna lay on the ground on the other end of the main living area and applied herself. Thoughts bubbled in Jack’s head. Hiccup, he knew full well, would not relent on the idea of leaving the island. The Earthling worried the Hallan would accidentally kill himself.

When Hiccup returned hours later sweaty and tired from felling the notoriously springy amboo trees, he found his husband and the girl lying side by side on the floor. Hiccup gave up the pretense and thought of Hasna as their daughter, blood ties be damned. He walked over, stopped, looked, and finally goggled at what he saw. Hasna created another swirl pattern on her sheet, but she incorporated a second one and made a mess of the first. She experimented with design, and he liked that. Jack, however, fully surprised him. On his sheet he saw a number of boat drawings varying types. Some clearly came from an off-world source. Two would never world work, but but three appeared viable our of the remaining five.

“Jack?” Hiccup gingerly said.

“It didn’t take much to realize you’re going to kill yourself if I don’t do something to help,” Jack replied without looking. “Foolhardy and Viking seems to go together as you’ve told me thousands of times, and – Wow! – are you ever a Viking.”

“It’s an occupational hazard,” the Viking confessed instead of taking insult because he saw Jack tried to meet him part of the way. “So, ah, what do you have in mind?”

“Stability. I want something stable that will be able to cross midworld and deal with the rough northern seas. Winter is not that far away. Plus, I want something that can withstand a fierce storm if the Ocean Lady and the Thunder Queen go at it again. I also want a back-up plan in case the ship breaks up. I want everything to float… including us, no matter how big the waves get. Basically, I don’t want any of us to pocking drown!”

Jack spoke so firmly Hiccup knew he dare not contest or question anything just said. They could work out the details later, but more than anything he needed Jack’s wickedly clever mind. Over three centuries of life filled his head with a staggering amount of knowledge. All three of them would need that if they wanted to see the shores of Berk again. Thus, the Viking simply nodded.

“Right now I kind of like the catamaran idea best. The Polynesians used them to cross the Pacific…”

“And you know I don’t understand the reference,” Hiccup piped up.

“A seafaring group of Earthlings from long ago who crossed the largest ocean on Earth… maybe bigger than what we saw getting here. They navigated using stars and a lot of guts, but they weren’t stupid,” Jack explained while pointing and staring at his middling drawing of an oddly configured catamaran. “Two pontoons… the long, water-tight hull-like things here and here, are used to cut through the waves and surf. Beams connect the two, and a main cabin is built on the platform is creates.”

“This is better than a longboat because…?”

“Because the connecting joists flex, and the pontoons won’t become a weak point for water entry if we stuff ‘em full of buoyant material. The whole thing can twist and turn as it needs in bad weather… and if it falls apart, we can use the pontoons as flotation devices. Those won’t sink.”

“You’re sure about this?” The Viking queried.

Jack turned his head and lobbed a baleful glare at him.

“Fine, you’re sure, but I want to see more drawings and hear you really explain how this works. Looks sort of rickety to me if you ask.”

“I didn’t,” Jack replied.

Hiccup frowned. Jack only just began to turn the corner on the entire concept, the Hallan man admitted to himself. He would need to be careful in how he approached his husband and the idea he presented. It seemed sketchy at best to Hiccup as he studied the drawing on the floor. However, Jack’s conviction reassured the Viking. If Guardians knew anything, they knew about safekeeping children. With Hasna involved, Jack would only offer his best ideas. He resigned himself to many frustratingly silent moments with his mate.

“Oh, I think I found a good stone for you steamer box. Don’t know how we’re going to get it here, but it looks prefect. Might have to chisel it down some ‘cause it’s long,” Hiccup told the man. It felt nice to be handing out good news.

“Where?” Jack instantly took the bait and switched gears.

“North of Wrecking Shoals and just inside the main amboo stand. Part of it is buried, so be prepared to dig in sand.”

The Earthling groaned and nearly rolled over onto Hasna.

“Ja!” Hasna complained and left two hand prints on his back. “No!”

“No what?” He prompted her.

“No… Hasna… on…,” she struggled with the words. “No on Hasna!”

“Now say get off me, Ja.”

She pushed at his back, smearing more charcoal on him, and rumbled: “Geh off me, Ja.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll get off Hasna,” the man hiding a Guardian inside said in mock exasperation while he sat up.

Hiccup snickered and said: “And she just learned another sentence. She understands a lot more than she can say.”

“I think that’s how it works. That’s how it worked for me when I got here.”

Hiccup forgot Jack arrived on Halla and could not speak the language. He recalled the stories of the early days when the Guardian told him about his first several weeks on the planet stripped of power because Halla did not possess a belief structure about him. The Viking got a new reminder that Jack faced and defeated far more challenges than any standard mortal could conceive. In many respects, the Earthling got forced into entirely remaking himself, and not just once. Thus, Hiccup thought, Jack could empathize with Hasna to a much finer degree. His mind returned to the present.

“So what’s our first order of business?”

“I need the rock… and not just for furniture. If we’re going to build that boat, we’ll be bending a lot of wood,” Jack stated and sounded marginally less antagonistic.

The Viking paused for a moment and regarded his husband. He could not imagine what thought process Jack put himself through to reach a private accord. His eyebrows drew slightly together and he said: “Thank you.”

“You damn Vikings know how to get yourselves killed in more ways than I can think to keep you alive. If designing and building a ship is going to stop you from doing anything stupid, then…” and the Guardian let the rest of the sentence unsaid.

Hiccup nodded. He wanted to lob a complaint at Jack about the Guardians, but he could not think of one. On the whole Guardians tended to be rather altruistic, dedicated, and forthright in their efforts to protect children. Hiccup barely understood the risks they faced, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt they could get killed in the process. He witnessed it for himself.

“I promise to try to keep myself alive better,” Hiccup rejoined in a very solemn manner.

For the first time in days Jack produced a real smile. The man shook his head and returned to his drawing. Hiccup went in search of food. Hasna continued to coat herself in charcoal.

The next morning after a quick meal the trio set out to find the rock Hiccup discovered that they could use as a base for the steamer box. Jack pressed him for details about the stone, but Hiccup proved less observant about geology than dragons. He learned as they walked through the frost-ruined section that the wrong stone might explode when heated, as he intended to do. Between them Hasna skipped along. Every so often one or the other of the men would point to an object and name it. She would try to repeat the name. It took them almost half an hour to reach the location because they needed to backtrack when Hiccup realized they passed the location. When the group found the stone in the morning light, a serious examination began.

“Bet he starts to talk to it,” Hiccup said to Hasna who sat in his lap and watched the Guardian. “See the stone?”

“Tone,” Hasna repeated.

“S-s-s-s-s… s-s-s-tone,” the Viking sounded out the word as he heard Jack do countless times.

“Th-th-tone,” she said in a rough imitation.

“S-s-s-tone.”

“Th-th-the-tone.”

“Hmmm, either you’ve got a lisp or your people didn’t use that sound much.”

The girl dressed in shorts and a heavily modified shirt lifted her head up and looked at Hiccup. Hiccup looked at her face, then her eyes, and he felt weepy all of sudden. Hasna gave him a look he saw her give Jack on many occasions, and it sometimes evoked jealousy in him. Before he did start to cry, Hiccup leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

“Love you,” he whispered against her skin.

“Love ooh,” Hasna mumbled.

Hiccup started to sniffle as a wave of emotion flooded through him. He wrapped his arms around the child and held her close. Hasna giggled. She reached up and scratched his beard. For the first time he wondered if he crossed over into rashness with his desire to build a boat. True, Hiccup wanted to return to Berk, but not putting Hasna’s life in jeopardy seemed paramount. In many ways, he wanted to go back to his home island where he sensed he could better protect the girl and his husband.

“Well, you two look snug,” Jack said as he walked up to them.

“And the stone?” Hiccup asked without releasing Hasna, and, surprisingly, she did not squirm.

The Earth man frowned and said: “It’s pretty thick, and I’m not sure we can split it without destroying it.”

“Could you use pieces?”

“It’d be a bugger making it water tight… especially after heating it up. What I wouldn’t give for your forge and a decent amount of gronckle iron right now.”

“Should we try with that stone or keep looking?” The Viking further inquired.

“Do you like furniture?” Jack countered.

“I like furniture, but I don’t want to waste a bunch of effort on a rock that’s not going to work if we try to shape it.”

“And it looks like it gets thicker the further in the ground it goes. I don’t know if this one is worth the trouble,” the deeply tanned man with hair bordering on the color of his husband’s from so much sun exposure. “But how far into the interior do we want to go?”

Hiccup managed to get to his feet while holding Hasna, and he tickled her at the same time. She laughed and shrieked with delight while thrashing around. His eyes, however, never left Jack’s. An important question hung in the air, and it begged ten more just as serious.

“We’ll need weapons just in case we do go into the jungle ‘cause I don’t think we can count on the other you showing up ‘les it gets bad,” the Hallan man replied.

A series strained looks passed over Jack’s face. Hiccup understood most of them. The sound of the girl laughing when he periodically tickled her accentuated the moment.

“Hic-ah, no!” She gasped the words as she laughed.

“No what?” He asked her while his finger lightly jabbed at the lower portion of her ribs.

“No… no,” Hasna begged.

The man stopped tickling, and the girl lay limp and sucking in breath in his arms. Whatever dark thoughts Jack thought a moment before disappeared as he witnessed the very deep and real bond between the two. He knew Hasna loved him as well, her relationship with Hiccup took on a somewhat different quality. Somehow Jack and his husband switched places in life when it came to the girl: the Spirit of Fun in their group wore a horned helmet and flew a night fury. Yet Jack did not feel jealous. The Guardian in him would not let him espouse that emotion. He smiled.

“Hic-ah!” Hasna exhaled with false exasperation.

“Want more?” The man teased and poked a few times.

“Ah! No, no, no, no!”

“You have no idea how adorable you two look right now,” Jack quietly commented.

“Um, yeah, I do… and I kind of like,” Hiccup answered.

“Oh, you pocking love it, and you know it.”

“Language, Jack Horrendous-Fries!”

“Ja, no!” Hasna added for good measure even though both men knew she did not understand the context and simply reacted to Hiccup’s tone.

Jack leaned down and blew a raspberry against her neck. She started squealing and kicking her legs. Hiccup wobbled, so Jack stopped. Hasna got lowered to the ground while she continued to snicker.

“Ja, no,” she laughed.

She held up her hands, and each man took one. They started walking back toward their encampment. The girl swung herself backward and forward as they walked. She alone wore a shirt while the two men clad themselves in bedraggled shorts that saw better days. Given they currently resided along one of the warmest longitudes, as Jack explain several times, make it perfect attire. Despite both losing weight from the ordeal at sea, the managed to exude a glow of health from what the island provide. Hasna also shone with vitality even though she equally suffered while on the ocean.

“Nepta?” Hasna asked and glanced back and forth between her guardians.

“Sure, we’ll go play catch with Nepta. He’ll like that,” Hiccup agreed.

The child let out a series of excited chirps.

The morning, while not entirely early, felt muggy. It threatened rain later in the day, but sometimes being close to the island greenery could produce the same effect. Since they planned on visiting the dragon they cut through the small strip of jungle that separated them from the shoreline. The Wrecking Shoals fell behind as they walked at an oblique angle. Hiccup felt overjoyed the quarreling between he and his husband came to an end. Somehow they managed to meet somewhere the middle of what each wanted, and the Viking felt satisfied. Good humor fell over Jack because, for the first time since his original mortality, he felt like part of a real family. He granted the roles got reversed, but that did not matter. He loved the Guardians and his Berkian friends, but the intimacy of a husband and a child at his side altered the fabric of reality in his mind.

The girl warbled to herself as she alternately got dragged by and hauled the two men who became her caretakers and protectors. Somewhere amid all the tragedy that befell her, Hasna clearly found a place of happiness for herself. She laughed as they traipsed through fringe of jungle. Just after they exited the fronds of fern and palm, Hasna came to a halt because the two men on either side of her stopped. She pulled on their arms, but they did not move. Even annoyed glances did not get them to continue to the walk to the promised play with the sea dragon. Movement in the distance caused her to look. Hasna pulled the arms of the two men in front of her as if to shield herself.

Hiccup and Jack stared forward at the beach. Neither man spoke. What they saw along the edge of the beach did not seem real.

Off to one side a dragon roared, but not one from the sea. A black shape bounded along the sands toward them. Hiccup released Hasna's hand and pelted toward the shape running toward him. Time after time the dragon bugled and roared. Jack reached down and picked up the girl. Tears edged out of his eyes and trickled down his cheeks. Hasna tightly wrapped her arms around his neck, and it made sense to the man. He started walking forward. An unusual mix of joy and sorrow crashed through him.

Further ahead Hiccup and Toothless all but slammed into one another. The duo fell to the sand. The night fury straddled his rider and licked the now furry face. The winged beast crooned and warbled the entire time. Hiccup sobbed with joy and relief. Memories of his time on Earth sprang to mind, and the two moments paralleled one another. The man hugged the stout, scaly, ebony neck as through he could somehow merge with the creature. Toothless sat on his haunches and wrapped his wings around the man. A keening sound, one that pierced the heart, escaped from Toothless.

As Jack walked toward the reunion of his husband and the dragon, Hasna clung to his neck and whimpered. He held her tight while his vision blurred from his own tears. Voices called in the background, and he saw people running toward him. He turned in their direction since he knew Toothless would not let anyone interfere with his reunion with Hiccup. Much to Jack’s pleasure, he recognized the two people aiming for him.

“Shh, that’s okay, sweet girl. These are friends,” he said to Hasna who trembled in his arms.

“Jack! Jack!” Astrid’s voice sliced through the air.

“Jack!” Snotlout bellowed right after the woman.

Ten seconds later his clan brother and one of his husband’s closest friends slid to a halt in the sand. The two stared at Jack and, more precisely, Hasna. Both also wept. Jack smiled and it all felt like a dream to him.

“Jack?” Snotlout asked with his name.

“I’m alive. We’re alive, and this… this sweet girl is Hasna,” Jack told them, and Hasna buried herself further into his side. “It hasn’t been easy for her.”

His friends slowly closed the gap. The looks on their faces got echoed by Toothless who continued to hog Hiccup all to himself. Jack saw others on the beach, but they stayed at the shoreline near a large rowboat. Gently but firmly Jack disentangled Hasna. He held her eye as he set her down. The girl looked oddly alone and very frightened. Yet Jack needed confirmation of the Berkians reality. He stepped forward, and Astrid’s strong arms snagged him into a hug. The Guardian fell into the embrace. A wall broke within his mind, and he cried. He cried hard. Astrid hugged him.

“It’s gonna be fine,” she said to him in a voice thick with emotion. “We found you… alive.”

“Ja?” A small voice peeped at his back.

Regardless of how much he wanted to squeeze Astrid until his arms gave out, he disengaged from her. The he turned, knelt, and swept Hasna into his arms. He held her while her arms locked around his neck.

“We’re safe. We’re safe. It’s alright now,” Jack said, but he knew he spoke more to himself than the child. “We’re safe.”

It surprised him when Hasna released her hold, and pushed against him. Her face hove into view, and she wore an openly concerned expression. A small hand rubbed the side of his cheek.

“Ja?” Hasna asked again.

Jack smiled at her even though a river ran own each cheek. He smiled from the bottom of his heart that at last could release the fear, tension, and worry that gripped him since the Island Miss sank. He set her down. She carefully watched him. Jack stood, turned, and got engulfed by Snotlout. The man cried nearly as hard as the one in his arms.

“I…” Snotlout said, but it proved to be the only word he managed to get out.

“I know, brother,” Jack whispered into his friend’s ear and got rewarded with a spine-crushing squeeze.

Astrid flung herself on the two men, and the trio wept at their reunion. Hasna studied the three, and she seemed to sense these people meant something to the man she called Ja. To be on the safe side, she hugged his leg.

“Oh, bud,” Hiccup sighed against the hide of the night fury. “I was so afraid you…”

He could not say the words. He pushed himself as hard against the dragon as he could, and Toothless easily absorbed the force. One forearm with a talon curled protectively around the man. Once again memories of Earth came back to the human. He squeezed Toothless’ neck with every bit of strength he could find. Hiccup need to truly feel the solid reality of his best winged friend. In the back of his mind he could not forget Jack would not get the same reunification. Although he never truly doubted what his husband witnessed as the Island Miss went beneath the waves, the fact only Toothless appeared on the beach provided the final confirmation. IceSpike no longer lived.

“How? How did you find us?” He begged the dragon.

Of course the dragon did not answer, but warbled instead at the sound of his rider’s voice. Like the human, Toothless also seemed to need physical confirmation of Hiccup’s reality. Their time apart exceeded what they experienced on Earth, and the separation appeared to wear on the flying reptile as much as the human. After what seemed an inordinate amount of time, Toothless unfurled his wings. Hiccup looked out to see a group of people, including Hasna, sitting on the sands staring at them. The Viking wiped at his face.

“We, ah… yeah,” he said.

Hiccup stepped out of his dragon’s sure embrace. As he did two people with faces he longed to see for what seemed endless weeks stood and trotted to him. Much as what happened with Jack, Astrid and Snotlout held onto Hiccup as though proving to themselves the man existed. Toothless came up form behind and laid his head on the trio of friends who clung tightly to each other, all talking at the same time, and each weeping with relief. Moments later a fourth person joined them. Jack nestled in with the three, and he felt Toothless’ warm wing circle around him. He reached out and scratched the thick hide of the beast, and the dragon crooned. Five Defenders of Berk found a piece of home in one another.


	16. Chapter 16

“It had to be her,” Jack said in reference to Isemaler as the group sat by a small fire they lit on the beach.

The sun sat half consumed by the horizon. The group of friends continued to talk at length about all that transpire. Astrid and Snotlout heard the stories about the Island Miss, the sinking, and the loss of IceSpike. For the tenth time that day, Snotlout held onto Jack as though his bearing could both comfort and protect the man. Jack did not find it annoying at all, but rather a testament to the deep relationship they forged as business partners, clan brothers, and friends. He did take comfort from Snotlout because the man understood, as did Astrid, what he endured with the death of his dragon. That the man left Heboo behind for fear something might happen to her also spoke of his understanding.

The tales of what happened on the island, especially a once sentence description of Biva’s demise, got met with equal parts amazement and horror. Neither Hiccup nor Jack refrained from stating how attached they became to Hasna, and their friends said it abundantly showed how much she cared about them. The survivors of the Island Miss called themselves a family, and Hasna simply filled it out even more. No one disagreed.

On the beach Hasna lay in the protective arms of Toothless with Stormwing sitting guard and Nepta patrolling the shoreline. It took a little doing, but the girl finally followed the lead of the two men who cared for her to introduce the new dragons. They showed her the trust ritual, and each carried it out in front of her several times. Toothless displayed great gentleness and patience. After many aborted and halting attempts, Hasna carried out the trust ritual. She repeated the ritual no less than eleven times after the first success, and Toothless complied each time. Stormwing got bored after the fifth ritual. It surprised everyone when the girl took the night fury and deadly nadder to the beach to meet the sea dragon, Nepta. Only a short while elapsed before the child and three dragons made sport in the water. Hiccup and Jack assured their friends the girl could not be in any better hands or talons. It seemed she wore out three reptiles as well as herself and lounged near the fire when the sun began to set.

“That would make sense,” Astrid responded to Jack’s statement. “Half the time it looked like someone lead Toothless. We know dragons could see you in your, ah… other… form.”

Down the beach the sailors of Chambermaid, captained by trader Lothgir’s cousin Garthgor, lounged around another small fire. They gave the friends space and time to reconnect. At full dusk they planned to return to the ship for the night. Knowing a friendly sea dragon occupied the waters gave them a sense of security.

“So it’s still in you, huh?” Snotlout asked half-rhetorically. “Don’t really like what makes it come out.”

“You and me both,” Jack darkly quipped.

“But it did save us at least two times,” Hiccup countered the tone.

“I don’t remember the first time. I just woke up on the ice floe,” his husband stated as he did for the last couple of months.

“So what was she like?” Astrid returned to the topic of Isemaler and seemed rather keen on the fact a female wore the mantle.

The Viking woman shed the majority of her heavy Viking clothing. She wore a light slip of a dress to ward off the worst of the heat and humidity. Snotlout took a page form Hiccup and Jack’s book and donned a quickly fashioned pair of shorts. His much paler skin all but glowed even in the last rays of the sun.

“I only talked to her for a minute, but… it… she felt… perfect for the job. She looked the part, too. I could feel the mischief rolling off of her,” the former Isemaler confided with a gleam in his eye. “Noro knows how to pick ‘em.”

“Well, Isemaler brought us here… okay, and Toothless,” Astrid said and corrected herself. “We knew he was following something, so it had to be her. She didn’t always stay with us, though.”

“There’s a big wide world out there, and winter is coming up. She’s probably already visiting children to help them get ready,” Jack quietly said remembering the days when he prepared for the onset of winter. Unlike Earth, Isemaler did not need to actually bring the cold and snow since Lord of Winter remained fully in charge of that.

“Still puzzles me why the staff came back to you. I mean, it’s not connected to your world anymore,” Hiccup mused on a question that niggled at him since the incident.

The dark of night crept further along the western sky. Only a ruddy glow remained on the eastern horizon. Night did not fall as rapidly as it did in the northern climes. The warm sunder under the feet and posteriors reminded all of them how hot the midworld region became. Astrid and Snotlout informed Hiccup and Jack they landed only about sixty leagues from the actual midworld point according to Garthgor. Jack steeled himself because only one real topic remained since they exhausted all other stories.

“Surprised that ice sheet lasted as long as it did,” Hiccup against pondered aloud.

“We’re lucky it did… and the same goes for the… children,” Jack said the words so he could be done with he subject.

“The children,” Astrid quietly said the last word.

“Their boat floated close to use, so we paddled the ice sheet out to get it. We thought it was empty,” the Guardian began the tale.

Once started, it flowed out of him like a river from a mountain. Hiccup added details, but he mostly let Jack tell the story. Tears gradually began to seep out of two sets of eyes as they recounted their fear they would die in the boat until Nepta arrived. The telling focused on the Hasna and Biva. Jack describe Biva in exquisite if painful detail. He used Hasna as an example. The girl lay entwined with the dragons and stared at the fire. She heard her name, and sometimes all the adults could hear the girl mumbling words. Hasna said her brother’s name several times. They story reached it’s conclusion, the point where Jack decimated the part of the jungle, and a grim silence settled over the friends.

“I know this might sound… morbid… wrong, but he didn’t really suffer much,” Astrid said in fierce tone.

“No, but those last few moments…” Hiccup spoke for himself and Jack.

“I’ve seen children die before. Too often. It can’t be helped because of what I do back on Earth, but this… it waited. It hunted. Not evil, but… I don’t know. I just couldn’t stop it,” Jack said in a whisper as the firelight played twinkled in the wetness on his face.

“Jack, when we were young, the dragons would come… and they took our food, and we fought them,” the lone woman among them intoned. “I saw men, woman… my friends get burned alive, or clawed or wing-swept. There was nothing we could do ‘cept fight back… ‘til Hiccup did something no other Viking ever did.”

“Sometimes… sometimes in the middle of the night I remember those fights. They’re old nightmares I can’t get rid of. It’s gets real tempting to find a way to forget… and not a good way,” Snotlout added in a somber voice as his skin shown like a ghost and the silver in his hair captured the light.

“It’s mortal life,” Jack said and sighed afterward. “Sometimes I forgot how powerless we are in this flesh.”

“You don’t regret…” Astrid began to say, much to Hiccup’s relief.

“What? No!” The Guardian interjected before she could finish. “No, and, maybe… maybe this is part of what The Man in the Moon wanted me to experience… learn. I guess the kind of power buried in me can’t solve all problems. Maybe I’m supposed to learn I can’t rely on it for everything.”

“Damn piss-poor way to teach it,” Snotlout commiserated with his friend.

“But I won’t ever forgot,” Jack quipped.

The quartet sat in silence and listened to night blanket their part of the world. The surf hissed as it slid back and forth over the sand. Some birds and insect stilled their voices while others took up the chorus. Far in the distance the sound of fronds and leaves rubbing together generated a gentle counterpoint to the ocean waves. It seemed so very pleasant, yet two people in particular knew it hid dangers they never encountered. Deadly dangers.

“So… ah, will you be ready to head out tomorrow? Garthgor said he’d like to sail on the morning tide,” Astrid broke the silence and broached a topic that needed to arise.

“We don’t have much ‘sides ourselves and Hasna,” Hiccup spoke first.

“Unless we want to pack the house and take it with us,” Jack suggested and tried to lighten the moments. “We did just finish building after all.”

Hiccup grinned while Astrid and Snotlout chuckled. Jack looked around the island. Without Hiccup and Hasna, nothing would remain for him except a bitter memory of a boy the world would never know. He sighed and stared out at the ocean. Hiccup studied his husband and saw a complex set of emotions glide across his features. The Viking desperately wanted to return home, yet he knew something of both he and Jack would never find its way back to Berk. The past several months changed them, and he could feel it: a deep, permanent alteration from the two men who first boarded the Island Miss.

“What about the sea dragon?” Snotlout inquired and raised yet another sensitive subject.

“Hasna loves him,” Jack said with real warmth in his tone. “Leaving Nepta behind is going to break her heart.”

“What do you mean leave Nepta behind? That’s impossible. He’s a water dragon. He’ll just follow along,” Hiccup refuted the notion of leaving the beast.

“But the boat won’t stop. He can’t swim twenty-four hours a day,” the Guardian remarked.

“Why not build him a raft he can lay on that gets pulled behind the ship?” Snotlout suggested.

Hiccup stared at Jack. Jack stared at Hiccup. The both turned their heads and stared at Snotlout. Astrid began shaking her head and snickered.

“You guys get sun-baked or something?” The burly salt-and-pepper haired man inquired.

“Maybe a little,” The sun-browned Hallan conceded as he chuckled as well. “That is an excellent idea. Jack, think we can knock one together before morning?”

“You mean take the house apart?” The Earthling parried.

“It’s just going to fall apart anyway. Might as well put it too some good use.”

Jack craned his head around and studied the house. They put a lot of material in the structure, and all of it would float. He started to plan. An idea came together as he survey their latest accomplishment.

“Tell Garthgor we’re not leaving until the day after tomorrow. I know he wants to get back to Berk and gone before the early winter gales, but we’ve got something to build. Snotlout, you’re helping,” Jack explained in rapid order.

“I came here to relax,” Snotlout complained, and received a swat across his arm from Astrid.

“We’re both helping,” she told him.

“Uh, duh! I was only joking,” he replied while rubbing his alabaster-skinned arm. “Besides how does anyone even know that dragon wants to go north?”

“He’ll follow Hasna,” Hiccup and Jack said in unison.

“And he’ll get used to the cold water ‘cause he’s already used to it,” Jack informed them. “It gets really cold at the lower depths, and I know he fishes there.”

Hiccup nodded in agreement. Both men thought of what the sea dragon meant to the girl they claimed as their own. Hasna all but claimed Nepta as her own. Since Biva’s death, the beast became even more important. In the meanwhile, Jack began sketching in the sand. The configuration looked very familiar to the Viking.

“Still going with that idea, huh?” The Hallan man asked his husband.

“It’ll work even better for this. We’ll make three pontoons to hold Nepta’s weight. Ever really look at him? He’s pretty big,” the man from Earth stated and ignored the rolling eyes of his husband.

“Well, if you’ve got a plan, then let’s go with it. I’ll go let Garthgor know… and maybe he’ll have an idea as well,” Astrid said and stood. She turned and spied the girl watching them from the protective embrace of Toothless and the watchful eyes of Stormwing. “We’re not leaving any of you here.”

The two survivors of the Island Miss both choked up. Astrid rarely said the word promise. She usually simply stated what she intended to do, and sometimes to the great regret of the recipient of her vow. With that she sped lightly through the sand. Becoming a mother hardly slowed the woman. After each pregnancy she returned to the ranks of the dragon riders within weeks. Hundfus, her husband, showed remarkable ability to maintain the house, the children, and work in the stone quarry while his wife defended the island. Most people fully respected Astrid.

“So, what’s the plan then?” Snotlout asked and walked over to where Jack sketched in the sand.

Hiccup stepped back and enjoyed the Jack and Snotlout show. For over two years they worked together and formed both a solid business partnership and an extremely close friendship. Neither would admit it, but the differences between them in personality actually became complimentary. While they settled down to debate how best to assembled the raft for the sea dragon, Hiccup went to Toothless and the girl he immediately accepted. The Viking sat in the sand and began to scratch the dragon in all his favorite places. Stormwing quietly went in search of her mistress.

“Hasna, do you like Toothless?” He asked and indicated the beast.

“Toothleth,” she dutifully said the name since it still sounded new to her. “Dagon.”

“Drah… drah… dragon,” Hiccup sounded out the word. “Nept is a dragon. Toothless is a dragon. Stormwing is a dragon.”

“Dw-w… agon,” Hasna stuttered out the word.

“Good enough.”

The man reached out and ruffled her hair, and then received the customary annoyed glance from her. In the background the two woodsmiths debated the proper approach to constructing the pontoons and the type of platform they would need to support a large sea dragon. Hiccup already began to feel at home in some respects, and he sighed with relief as he leaned against his best winged friend. Ten seconds later Hasna crawled into his lap and watched her other personal Guardian wrangle ideas with the man’s clan brother.

At the crack of dawn two of the sailors from The Chambermaid arrived at the house. They said Garthgor put them on loan to make sure the task got completed by the end of the day. That the captain agreed to haul a raft behind his ship still amazed a couple of the Berkians, but the presence of Toothless and Stormwing taught the man the value of dragons to their riders, even if the rider happened to be a two and half-year old girl and the beast sea dragon. Hiccup and Jack both thanked the sailors: an older and tough looking woman, and a younger man roughly the same age as the Berkians.

“Okay, first things first, we pull apart the top floor – don’t break anything – then the upper floor, and then the main story of the house. Got it?” Jack commandeered the lead role in the project.

The bobbing of heads met his directive.

“Only use knives to cut the bindings once you’re sure nothing is going to come falling down on you. Carefully put the freed up pieces over by where Snotlout is standing next to the work stands. Once we get enough materials, I want Kasri to start helping Snotlout.”

“Yes, sir,” Kasri the somewhat swarthy woman said. Physically she resembled Snotlout.

“Hasna? Hasna?” The Guardian called out.

“She’s already with the dragons,” Hiccup said. “Grabbed a fistful of food and ran out to see Nepta. She’ll keep them occupied for the morning.”

“And you’re not afrai… never mind. She’s better protected than any of us,” Astrid stated and corrected herself.

The work began in earnest. Taking apart the house proved tricky since Hiccup and Jack built it to last and to withstand typhoons as much as possible. However, they did build it and knew how to dismantle the structure. With five people on deconstruction the task proceeded at a rapid pace. Kasri got dispatched to Snotlout who spent the time sorting through the pieces as they arrived and laying them out in the rough shape of pontoons. When Kasri joined him, they began to join the pieces. Jack selected her to work with his clan brother for very good reasons: Kasri could manhandle the springy amboo poles with ease.

The Viking man and Viking woman on deconstruction detail followed the orders of the Earthling to a tee. The sailor, Lim, also followed instructions as presented. They found out he worked as a shipwright in several ports when not actively sailing. Garthgor knew his sailors and sent the right ones for the job. Once comfortable with the process and the expectations, the four up carefully started to dismantle the house only days from final construction. Kasri served as the delivery person and could carry impressive amounts of lumber to Snotlout. Tacked to a tree flew the rough plans he made with Jack the night before and refined at breakfast. Thus, the work ensued at a very healthy clip and people spoke very little.

Well before noon the second floor got reduced to its constituent components. Like Hiccup, Jack, and Snotlout, Lim shed his shirt and rolled up his pant legs. Kasri stripped off her shirt and tied it around her chest to keep her breasts from swinging about. Snotlout started the day bare-chested, and his pink skin told the only true natives of the island their friend would spend several days in pain. Lastly, Astrid excused herself to one of the standing rooms, and emerged cinched in the same manner as sailor woman. The heat of the topics demanded such adjustments.

Just before the noontime arrived, another sailor arrived with drink and food. Two bands of crew went into the jungle to forage and find a more vibrant source of drinkable water. The groups got warned about the dragon-sized, limbed, snake-like creature who hid in trees and launched ambush attacks. The men and women paid heed and heavily armed themselves before heading inland. They returned with one haul, some of which they brought to builders who ate and worked at the same time.

In the shallows Nepta could reach, the water dragon played with Hasna, Toothless, and Stormwing. From a distance is sounded like an animal fight between the dragons roaring and the girl shrieking with delight. Even Astrid stood and grinned at the foursome. Stormwing carried a much different temperament than Stormfly as befitting what Astrid endured. To see the deadly nadder simply let loose and enjoy herself got entirely welcomed by everyone.

“Wow, that’s a lot of amboo,” Jack said after a fast break that included a lot of water and as much fruit as a person could eat in ten minutes. He and Snotlout eyed the pile of materials. “Good, good. Alright, Kasri is with Snotlout and me. Hiccup, you know as much about the construction of the house as me, so keep dismantling it. Save as much of the binding as you can.”

“You’re the boss on this one,” Hiccup cheerfully said as he mopped his brow with a naked arm, and it did little to remove the sweat.

Jack grinned at his mate.

“Snotlout, Kasri, get ready to use every muscle you’ve got ‘cause we’re going to start bundling and bending this stuff. Here’s the shape we’re going after.”

The trio went to the tree to study the drawings. Hiccup led his party back to the last floor of the house. All six people resumed their tasks. At first the Viking thought his mate got the easier of the tasks until he, Astrid and Lim stopped to watch them for a few moments. The three on the ground groaned, grunted, and sweated their way through assembling a ten-foot long pontoon shell. It did not look like easy work. The three in the house glanced at one another.

“You know we’re going to end up doing that as well?” Hiccup said to his temporary teammates.

“Dun know ‘boot that,” Lim said in an accent similar to the one Gobber adopted in his youth from a seafaring clan and a man they all suspected he deeply loved. “Kasri be a-tough one there.”

“No kidding,” Astrid mumbled with a bit of awe.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her, elicited a scowl, and then a shove on the shoulder. They resumed carefully taking down the house he and Jack built. It some regard it felt like an insult to their industry, but what took shape nearby for a good cause alleviated that feeling. As Astrid said: no one they cared about got left behind, human or otherwise.

The six people worked until lunch, worked while eating lunch, and did not pause. Not long after the other three joined the ones building the craft. One pontoon lay completed, and Hiccup finally saw what Jack meant: it looked like a narrow and solid longboat hull, except solid. The construction crew almost completed the second one. While Kasri and Snoutlout curved and bound the front of the next float, Jack explained to the other three how to make the pontoons. Astrid grasped the idea immediately, and Hiccup began wondering if he could improve the design. Lim, they knew, would follow whatever orders got handed to him. Thus, they began work on the third pontoon.

In the guttering flame of the torches retrieved from the ship, the final touches on the floating platform got added while it bobbed and danced on the surface of the water. They six spent a good deal of time balancing the raft while the other members of The Chambermaid stood on the shore and gave them unneeded advice. Hasna watched as well form where she sat on the beach flanked by two dragons. The third paddled and swam within range of those in the water finishing and testing the craft. A ten-foot by twelve and a half-foot low raft drifted on the incoming waves. It got anchored to the beach. Then six builders climbed about. The raft barely dipped in the water. Others of the crew climbed aboard one by one until eleven people stood on the stable platform.

“This’ll hold,” Jack announced.

“When we’s gets to the Berk,” Garthgor rumbled form his place in the middle, “thinkin’ maybes we’s can have this?”

“Consider it payment for rescuing us,” Hiccup said and Jack frowned but nodded.

“Oh, that’d be done settled ‘fore we left the Berk. This be a top of more and we’ll make barter for it on the wave.”

As Astrid and Snotlout told them on their first night on the island, Garthgor spent his entire life on the seas since he reached seven years of age. He spoke numerous languages and long since gave up separating one from the other. Talking with the man sometimes proved a chore for those unaccustomed to conversing with him. The crew never showed any confusion when it came to his often garbled and strange orders. Astrid paid the man a huge compliment by stating she could sail with him since he ran a very tight ship.

“Okay, everyone off. It’s time to train Nepta how to use this. We need a few of you to help hold it in place out in the water so he can get to it.” Jack ordered as if he expected to be obeyed, and his expectation got met.

People jumped into the water. Some, including the captain, positioned themselves on the corners of the raft. As a group they walked it further into the water. Nepta swam up to the contraption and eyed it while bobbing on the waves. Jack walked to the edge of the raft. He held out his hand, palm facing outward, and closed his eyes. Nepta immediately swam to him and pressed his snout into the hand. Jack then slid it along the damp, smooth scales. Nepta burbled. The Guardian faced the beast.

“Okay, I’m going to show you something, and I want you to follow me,” he said even though the dragon could not understand words. “If you want to stay with Hasna, you need to figure this out.”

Jack jumped into the warm ocean water. It never seemed to grow cold. Nepta ducked under the water and then came up next to the man. It glanced around, and Jack realized it looked for a coconut. The Earthling shook his head. He slowly started to swim back to the raft. After a couple of feet, he paused. Jack then motioned to the dragon. Nepta swam forward. The two repeated the process until he floated at one end of the raft. Hiccup remained on-board and waited for his husband to lead the creature.

Jack held up his hand, and Nepta rubbed his – or her – snout against it. The long, possibly poisonous fangs never came near his hand. How or why the dragon liked people so much remained a prime mystery. Hiccup suggestion it got raised by a person and got lost or abandoned seemed as plausible an explanation as any. With the dragon focusing on him, Jack began the next phase.

“Keep following me,” he told Nepta.

The Guardian turned his body. Then he placed his hands on the edge of the raft. Once stable, Jack twisted his head to face the dragon.

“Come on, Nepta. Come here,” Jack asked the beast.

Nepta swam up to him. Its long neck bumped against the raft. Then Nepta stared down at him. Jack gradually pushed on his arms to make his torso rise out of the water. Once his navel became exposed, he flopped forward. Using his arms like fins, the man wiggled and pushed himself into the raft. The dragon stared at him.

“She’s not getting it,” Hiccup loudly mumbled. “How does she know what you want her to do? It doesn’t make sense for her to climb up.”

“Then how to we… Fish! We need some fish!” Jack started to responded and then shouted.

“Fish!” Hasna yelled from the shore. “Hic-ah, fish!”

“Not now, Hasna. Nepta is learning,” Hiccup replied over several adults who began to chuckle.

“Nepta fish!” She rejoined.

The Viking in the raft smiled and shook his head.

“You know we both got that started,” Jack told his husband.

“And we’ll probably pay for it for years.”

They grinned at one another. It meant they planned to keep the girl and raise her. They made a family, and now they wanted to keep the fourth member with them. They just needed to show Nepta what he, or she, needed to do to stay with them. The more both men thought about it, the more complicated the training process seemed complicated.

Minutes later one of the sailors arrived with half a bucket of fish. He waded out to the raft and handed it to Hiccup. Hiccup stood and gazed at the dragon. Then he looked at Jack, and back at the dragon. A wicked smile crossed his bearded face, and it made the Earthling uneasy about the Hallan.

“Jack, repeat what you did, but this time I want you to crawl all the way onto the raft. Then I’m going to feed you a fish,” Hiccup told him.

“I’m not eating that!” Jack complained.

“You’re as thick as a hot burple sometimes. I don’t want you to eat it: I want Nepta to see he’ll get a reward if he does what you do, but he needs to see you do it first.”

“I’m still not eating it.”

The people on the shore laughed out loud at the exchange.

“Why can’t you have Toothless or Stormwing do this? Wouldn’t it be better for one dragon to see another dragon doing what needs to be done?” Jack continued to complain.

“And how do propose I get them to not fly? Stormwing can leap here from the shore,” Hiccup countered.

“She sure can!” Astrid called out and got a rousing endorsement from those around her.

Jack shook his head. He could feel this turning into the strange form of unintentional public theater the Berkians loved. After a few seconds he deeply inhaled and slid back into the the water. The torches on the shore barely cast enough light, but Nepta remained easy to spot under the half moon and stars. He swam up to the dragon, repeated the greeting, and again swam back to the raft. Nepta followed. Jack placed his hands in a flipper-like manner on the edge of the raft. Then Hiccup when to work.

“Look, Nepta. Fish. Nice… kind of fresh fish!” The Viking said while waving it around. “Watch Jack. He’s gonna get a fish.”

Hiccup walked stood halfway between the far end of the raft and Jack. He tossed the fish onto the platform. Jack tried his best to feign excitement, wiggled his body, and then shimmed his way onto and toward the fish. The sea dragon bumped the edge of the raft and leaned its long neck forward. Seconds later the dragon slurped up the fish. Those on the beach erupted into riotous laughter. Even Hiccup and Jack started to laugh. Dragons, as a general, rule did not make easy targets to fool.

“I hope we got enough fish for this,” Jack commented as he eased into the water and swam backward.

It took nearly two hours to get the dragon to carry out the action they wanted more than once. Nepta seemed wholly confused by the entire process. Most of the people lost interest an hour into the training session. Hasna slept curled next to Toothless. Astrid, Snotlout, Kasri, and Garthgor remained to witness the proceedings. When at last Nepta did as they wanted, they whooped with joy. Hasna woke, cracked open an eye, and the rolled over to return to her slumber. The dragon riders continued to train Nepta. Whether the dragon would understand the purpose of the raft when they set sail remained to be seen. However, during the training, Hiccup and Jack agreed they would take turns prompting the dragon to climb on the raft when at sea.

Fortunately a tired Hasna meant a compliant Hasna. She hardly made a peep when Hiccup gathered her up and carried her to the waiting launch. Astrid and Snotlout occupied the rear seat with the captain while Hiccup holding Hasna sat with Jack in the front. Kasri womanned the oars and the middle bench. She rowed the group out to The Chambermaid, a ship easily as large as the lost Island Miss. Toothless and Stormwing flew to the ship. Nepta followed the rowboat and the raft tied to the aft plate. Without being asked, Snotlout jumped into the water when they neared the Chambermaid. He untied the raft and took the lead line to the keel of the ship. He then securely tied it to one of the cleats mounted on the hull often used for similar purposes.

“Hey, bud, can you come here,” Hiccup called out to Toothless.

The night fury leaped from the gunwale and soared in a circle around them. Hiccup stood unsteadily in the rowboat and held aloft a now awake and visibly cranky little girl. She wailed a bit when Toothless backwinged and descended toward them. Toothless took hold of the girl and Hiccup released her. In the strong, sure talons of his best winged friend, the man trusted the dragon with the precious cargo. As Toothless ascended upward and disappeared over the deck, a set of arms encircled him. Jack hugged him with fierce intent. Hiccup returned it.

“We’re going home,” the Viking told the Guardian.

“I’m always home with you,” Jack mumbled and kissed the side of the man’s neck.

Around them Astrid, Snotlout, and Garthgor ascended the ladder dangling from the side of the ship. Kasri busied herself with tying the lift lines to the rowboat. Hiccup and then Jack took their turns climbing aboard The Chambermaid. On deck activity commenced around them. Hasna ran to the men and they both gathered round her. Although not entirely afraid, Hasna cast a wary eye. Hiccup noted her rather fearless demeanor. Jack, however, picked her up and headed toward the wide stairs leading to the pilot deck. Once there he carefully leaned over with her. Below they could just see Nepta bobbing in the water next to the raft.

“If he wants, Nepta can come with us,” Jack told the girl.

“Nepta!” Hasna called out and waved while Hiccup held onto her waist.

Nepta warbled at the sound of her voice. When Jack and Hasna turned, the deck seemed alive with the eight crew members, three Berkians, and two dragons. Toothless and Stormwing got provisioned with traditional nests, and Jack felt a warm sense of relief. It meant neither would suffer what happened to IceSpike if the worst of situations should occur. An arm slithered around his shoulder, and his husband drew him into a hug. The moment began to feel overwhelming to both of them.

“Odd, isn’t it after it being just us for these last few months?” Jack quietly asked the man holding him.

“Yeah, I… just a lot to take in over the past day. It’s all… different now,” the Viking replied. “Is this what it was like for you before you got to be a Guardian?”

“No, not really. I could see and hear people, watch them grow and change, but they couldn’t see, hear, or feel me. It wasn’t ‘til the other Guardians started interacting with that I felt all that aloneness.”

Beneath them the deck pitched ever so gently. Hiccup glanced down. Hasna stood in front of them taking in the entire scene. Her silence and almost motionless stance indicated the impact on the girl. He turned to look at Jack, but found Jack scrutinizing him. The the Earthling in Hallan skin smiled.

“What’s that all about?” Hiccup inquired.

“I just like seeing how you look after Hasna…” Jack began to say.

“Ja,” Hasna said his name as ritual dictated. Then she looked up while they looked down. “Hic-ah.”

“Scrunchy face,” Hiccup rejoined.

She made a face him. Jack laughed. She likely did not understand the words, but she clearly knew Hiccup teased her. Hiccup bent over at the waist and planted a sloppy, wet kiss on her forehead.

“Hic-ah!” She grunted in disgust while jerking her arms free to wipe away the offending spittle.

“Hasna!”

“If you get her going, you get to stay up all night with her,” Jack warned. “And I really want to get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah, it has. Bed, Hasna?” Her truly Hallan guardian inquired.

“Toothleth?” Hasna countered.

“Um, no. He sleeps on charred wood, and you know way too much about that. I don’t want to wake up and find out you decorated him,” Hiccup fruitlessly explained.

However, Hasna caught the word ‘no’ and scowled a bit.

“Come on, sweet girl. Drink, food, and sleep,” Jack said while picking her up.

The girl made her dragon face at Hiccup, and he returned it. The practice started with the arrival of the other dragons, especially after Hasna got a good look Stormwing. She would bare her teeth and make a crude growling sound. The moment both Hiccup and Jack snickered the first time she made a face, Hasna proceeded to used it on all the adults and the dragons. The reception she received cemented it in place as a new game. Thus, Jack carried a growling girl while a growling husband followed behind.

One of the crew met them at the bottom of the stairs and took them inside the rudder house and down to the lower decks. There they got shown to a set of private quarters much like the ones assigned to them on the Island Miss. A large hammock and a smaller bed awaited them. Food and drink waited for them on a small table. Hasna made for it as soon as Jack set her down. The men recognized local fruit, and so did the girl. The three sat in their cabin, an area defined by heavy blankets hung from the joists, and quietly ate. After eating Hiccup and Jack climbed into the wide hammock once they made sure Hasna got tucked into her bed. She did not quail and demand to sleep in their bed, and the men thought the change of environment as the reason. The warm close air of the ship mixed with full stomachs and sore muscles did not leave the Hallan and the Earthling awake very long. Neither man budged in their sleep when another small body joined them.


	17. Chapter 17

The sun barely edged above the western horizon when the morning tides started to come in. Hiccup, Jack and Hasna woke both naturally and from the unusual sounds around them. They made their way to the upper deck, and Toothless instantly swarmed Hiccup. The man and the dragon lay on the deck while the beast cooed, rumbled, and warbled. Hasna lay on the deck and watched the two. At one point Toothless reached over and licked the girl from the middle of her arm, up her neck, and across three quarters of her head. Hasna bellowed in protest and got up.

“No!” She berated the dragon. “No, Tootleth.”

Hasna spun on one heel and went after Jack. Several members of the crew chuckled at the display. Even Jack could not keep the grin off his face. He suspected Toothless knew just how much one of his licks annoyed people and did it entertain himself.

“Ja! Hep!” Hasna said as she slowly climbed the steps.

The man looked over the edge of the stair landing. A frustrated and wet Hasna wended her way upward. He met her half way down and picked her up. The girl wore a furious expression.

“Ja, Toothleth… dag… dwagon…” she said and found herself quite literally at a loss of words. “Hasna no food!”

“No, sweet girl, you are not food. Toothless just gave you a kiss,” Jack told her and then kissed the side of her head.

“No, no! Toothleth… eh,” Hasna implored and stuck out her tongue.

“You’ll live through it.”

Hasna eyed him and looked uncertain as to what he meant, so Jack hugged her. Toothless drool got smeared on the side of his neck while he climbed the stairs. As they approached the aft section of the pilot deck, a familiar set of footfalls came after them. It seemed ages since the Guardian heard that particular Viking sound. Hiccup came to a halt next to them, and Hasna steadfastly refused to look at him. He reached over to ruffle her hair, but pulled it away when his hand got coated.

“Wow, he really got you,” Hiccup said to the girl. “Okay, I’m sorry, Hasna, that Toothless licked half your body.”

“Toothleth, no,” she pouted.

The men looked over the gunwale and saw the raft below floating on the water. They did not see any sign of Nepta. Although the dragon ultimately learned to climb onto the raft, no one could predict if he would do so during the long voyage home. A question rose in Hiccup’s mind.

“How long do you think it will take to get back?” He asked his mate.

“Hard to say,” Jack said and tried to recall the location of the island Captain Garthgor explained the day before. “At least three eight-days… maybe a month. Nilsborg…”

“Nilsborg,” Hiccup whispered.

They never once talked about the fate of the crew of the Island Miss. Jack could not recall saying the traders name once after he woke from the storm until The Chambermaid arrived. A weight he did not like settled on him, and he saw it settled on his husband as well.

“Hic-ah?” Hasna said in the tone she used when she feared she got into trouble.

Hiccup knelt and looked at her. Then he said: “There was a group of people who brought Ja and Hic-ah into this part of the world. They got caught in a storm. We lost… too many good people and a dragon that day.”

His voice choked as he stared into the eyes of a girl who could not comprehend his words. Jack knelt and rubbed a hand down her back. Hasna turned her head, and he saw the concerned expressed.

“Hic-ah and Ja are sad for what they lost, but… it also means we found you. All of it by chance, but one part was very good chance. We got to save you for your mother,” Jack said and two traces of wetness glistened on his cheeks.

“Ja?” She asked and wiped his face.

Jack pulled the girl into a hug and buried his face in long and wet hair. He could smell Toothless’ breath. The man missed IceSpike with a terrible ache, but holding onto Hasna eased it. Although he wished it otherwise, but Jack suddenly gleaned an insight into what Heboo did for Snotlout. It did not take much to realize Hasna and Biva kept him, and quite likely Hiccup, from falling into himself and deep despair. He felt tiny arms around his neck, and they anchored him to reality.

“I love you,” Jack whispered to her.

“Love ooh,” she whispered in return.

The man stood, but the girl did not let go. He used his arms as a bench for her. Hiccup leaned over and kissed her. As he pulled away, she kissed him on the chin. Hiccup wrapped his arm around his husband and the girl he thought of as his own. Jack leaned into him. The sound of more familiar footfalls echoed from behind. Astrid and Snotlout came and stood next to them.

“I’ll say it again: you three look too cute for words,” the Viking woman softly stated with no a trace of humor.

“Hasna is really pretty,” said Snotlout he gazed at her. He smiled at her, she returned it. “They are going to go crazy for her on Berk.”

“I hope so ‘cause that’s going to be her home,” Hiccup answered first.

“What about her people?” Astrid inquired with her usual bluntness.

“Did you forget the part where we found her in a boat in the middle of the ocean with her family dead or dying around her?” He reminded her.

“No, but she’s going to figure out pretty quick she isn’t from Berk.”

“We already talked about that when we decided she stays with us,” Jack rejoined. “Over time we’ll explain her past to her… and the truth about the fact we don’t know where she came from.”

“Someone might recognize her features,” Snotlout added.

“Who? None of this crew knew for certain what people she came from. They had guesses, but that was it. We don’t have a lot of information to go on.”

Three heads nodded when Jack finished speaking. When the crew of The Chambermaid saw her, they began to speculate about where her first home might lie, but Garthgor stated she looked like any one of a dozen different people. Even her name sounded like it came from at least ten different regions to which they traveled. Hiccup and Jack long since accepted they would never learn specifics about Hasna. In the end it did not matter. They loved her, and they hoped that would see her through the times when she wanted to know more about herself.

“I’m kind of jealous to be honest,” Snotlout intoned while staring at his friends.

“Jealous? Of her?” Astrid queried.

“Think about who she’s got as parents now!” He rumbled. “Sure, it sucks what happened to her real family, but… Hiccup? Jack? She’ll get to do anything she wants to do with her life. Dragon rider. Blacksmith. Woodworker. Tinkerer. Come on, people, think! Gods, she’s got a Guardian for a papa!”

“And she can never know,” Jack cautioned his friend. “Only if I ever transform in front of her will she ever find out. She doesn’t need that going against her in her life.”

“He’s right,” Hiccup immediately supported his mate. “I know you’ll think this is wrong, but I never would’ve told any of you if it wasn’t for Etuchump.”

Both Astrid and Snotlout eyed him.

“It changed the way you look at him… how you treat him. Sure, sometimes it’s a fun secret, but what good does it do Jack? He’s here for a mortal life, not to be reminded of what he is over there.”

“It’s not that bad, Hiccup,” Jack tried to ease the moment.

“No, but he’s right,” Astrid grudgingly admitted. “In the back of my mind I always know who and what you are, Jack. I don’t love you any less for it… I might even love you more ‘cause of it, but I always know. And it did change how I look at you.”

“Me, too. You know how I feel about you, Jack, and… I’ve always loved knowing something other people don’t. Knowing you makes me a little special, too,” Snotlout chimed in.

“Okay, well, then I hope you come to feel that way about Hasna,” Jack stated.

“Ja!” Hasna carried out the name game.

“Who wouldn’t?” Snotlout said and made a face at the girl. He grinned when she returned with a dragon face.

“I think you’re legally obligated to love her, Snotlout, since she is part of the clan now… a clan niece,” the Earthling replied with a smirk.

“Wow, it’s already happening, isn’t it?” Astrid remarked, almost under her breath.

“What’s happening?” Hiccup asked and nudged her.

“My brother said when I gave birth to Norna, my whole perspective shifted… and I didn’t even realize it. I saw it happen with Groanhilde and Fishlegs… and a lot of others.”

“That, ah, told us a bunch of nothing,” her one-time beau intoned.

The woman lightly slapped him on the arm and said: “You didn’t hear the word perspective?”

“Yeah, but… it only makes sense a person’s perspective would change. I mean, come on, another life depends on it.”

“Um, I think she means a bit more than that,” Jack said before Astrid could smack him again for being dense. “Let me ask you this: why’d you go running for the beach when I changed?”

Hiccup opened his mouth, and so many thoughts tried to come out at once he only made a squeaking sound. Only one thought really mattered: he would die before he let anything happen to Hasna. It sounded similar to how he operated as a Defender of Berk, but it took on extremely personal dimensions. As he ran with the girl in his arms from the awesome and terrible power of Jack Frost, he only thought of keeping Hasna alive. Nothing else mattered, not even Jack, and not even Toothless when it came down to the rock bottom truth. He and Jack already discussed what accepting Hasna into their lives, the joint life, meant. He looked at Jack and saw the death of Biva in a whole new light.

“We… you and me, Jack, we didn’t mean anything when that creature attacked,” Hiccup stated.

“No. Just them,” the Guardian confirmed.

“And that’s the perspective, Hiccup. A parent, a real parent, forgets some of the value of their own life in the face of their children. She,” and Astrid pointed to Hasna, “becomes the do-all and end-all. It’s a higher calling than even dragon riding.”

“Don’t know if I’d go that far,” Hiccup mumbled and his friend knocked him with her shoulder.

“Now I really feel left out,” Snotlout said in a mild pout.

“Not if Sassa has her way about it. She got her hooks deep into you… and the same goes the other way around. Everyone knows you love her and she feels the same way, Snotlout. Heck, she was the one who really pushed you to follow Toothless with me. Didn’t that tell you something?” Astrid half-chided him.

Hiccup and Jack grinned at one another. They saw it developing well before they departed on the Island Miss. Snotlout seemed more alive when Sassa hove anywhere near him. She watched him whenever she could. Both men noted not the attraction, but the attachment. Astrid simply brought it all out into the open.

Snotlout opened his mouth, and the gurgling warble of a water dragon echoed through the air.

“Nepta! Nepta!” Hasna shrieked, and it became impossible for Jack to hold onto her.

Once on the deck, she ran to the stiles holding up the gunwale. The girl easily pushed her head between the thick rods. She started to bounce on her feet.

“Nepta, bow! Bow, bow, Nepta!” She yelled to the dragon while it roared back.

“Bow?” Snotlout asked.

“Boat. She doesn’t do well with the ends of words… yet,” Jack explained to his clan brother.

The four adults went and stood with the girl who continued to call out to the dragon. A few minutes later Captain Garthgor and two other sailors climbed up into the pilot deck. Once went to the wheel that controlled the rudder. The captain joined the five at the gunwale.

“Strong tide rolling out, so we’d best use it now,” he told them. The captain turned and yelled: “Sails down and weigh anchor. Take the tide.”

The rattle of the thick chain holding the anchor reverberated around them. Men and women, sailors all, called out to one another getting ready to put the ship under sail. Captain Garthgor stood to the left of the pilot and serenely gazed at his crew while they scurried to finish preparations. Within ten minutes the main sails got set and tied off. The jib hung loose in the front, but would swell to proportion once outside of the island quay. Toothless and Stormwing took the sky and kept watch on the skies and water for interloping dragons. At the after Nepta send up a call.

“Nepta!” Hasna called.

Hiccup grabbed her before she could reach the gunwale. He picked her up. She looked at him in panic. Then he turned to his mate. Jack wore something close to a sad smile. He brushed a hand along the girl’s cheek, after which he spun on one heel and faced the island. Hiccup with Hasna still in his arms did the same. The island looked peaceful.

“I will…” Jack started to say when the ship lurched as it caught the tide and wind. His hand shot out to Hiccup to brace his husband.

“Will what?” The Viking asked as the vessel started to pull away and head for open waters.

“I will always remember this moment. You, Hasna, me… leaving the island… Biva,” the Guardian softly said.

“Beev,” Hasna said his name.

As they traveled beyond the breakers some twenty-five yards past the shore line, the island appeared tiny to both men. They glanced at one another before returning to stare at shrinking spit of land as they gained more speed. It seemed as if the blue-green water of the midworld oceans slowly swallowed it. They saw birds flying over above the trees, ones they rarely saw on the north side of the island, and Jack wondered if they refused to land in remembrance of the creature he killed. Perhaps more existed than they ever knew.

“And you, me, and Hasna… we’ll be together on Berk,” Hiccup said without elaborating.

“Home,” Jack said and sighed the word.

“Yeah, home,” his husband agreed.

“’Ome,” Hasna murmured. “’Ome.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Epilogue**

The following fall Hiccup, Jack, and Hasna began to prepare for winter. The girl wanted to go down to the docks every single day and feed Nepta until he almost burst. The water dragon followed them all the way north after they left the midworld island. However, as winter began to take hold, Nepta disappeared, and Hasna suffered a broken heart until spring. When the seas around Berk cleared, the water dragon returned. From the smithy where she liked to play and annoy both her fathers, the wet trumpeting sound reached their ears. Their daughter cried with unadulterated joy when she saw the dragon waiting for her near the docks. Yet a year after returning, they needed to prepare her for the dragon’s absence once again.

“You know he’s going to find warmer water when winter gets here,” Hiccup warned Hasna.

“Why Nepta go? I want him to stay,” she begged.

“Do you want to be outside without a coat in the snow?” Jack asked from where he continued to pack crates with woodworking supplies.

“No. Cold,” Hasna grumbled. She did not like the cold one bit.

“And that what happens with Nepta. Warm water is like a jacket for him.”

“Nepta stay,” she pouted.

“You can say it all you want, but he’s going to head south,” Hiccup told her for the umpteenth time. He continued to bend a piece of metal, but got little results as the piece cooled too much. “Besides, you got Toothless and half the dragons on this island to play with. What about Meatlug?”

“Me-lug,” she giggled and forgot to finish part of one word.

Hasna and Meatlug formed a bond nearly as powerful as the one she formed with Nepta. Of course, it did not hurt that she and Haloke became inseparable. Although a year younger, the daughter of Fishlegs and Groanhilde became attached to Hasna. The other children on the Berk liked Hasna as well, although she figured out on her own the Thorston clan posed certain challenges. Moreover, Hasna severely disliked the chickens, and the feeling appeared mutual. Aside from Meatlug who did not mind being used as playground equipment one bit, many of the other dragons followed Toothless’ lead and treated the girl with great care. The night fury, while not as extremely patient as the gronckle, seemed very fond of the Hasna. She liked him as well and would gamely use him as an alternate when Meatlug became unavailable.

“Ja, where Unca Snot?” She asked and started to poke around inside one of the packing crates.

“You already know the answer,” Jack replied and added: “You’re going to get your fingers cut if you keep doing that.

Hasna removed her hand while she asked:“How come new house?”

“Workshop, sweet girl. We moving to a new workshop so Hic-ah can use the whole forge. Besides, Uncle Snotlout and me are getting more work ‘cause of it. People want new furniture.”

Like most everyone in the immediate vicinity of the forge, Hasna became a favorite curiosity. Her eyes, hair, and skin loudly proclaimed her from someplace else. That she commanded as much language as she did, including some complicated words and sentence structures, made her a bit of a gadfly. Hasna would talk to anyone who wanted to talk to her. She accepted correction regarding mispronounced words with subtle ease, although she would only adhere to the correct pronunciation half the time. More than anything, people noted the speed at which she learned and possessed a curiosity her two fathers began to believe might get her into trouble in the near future.

“Hic-ah go new house?” Hasna inquired after a few moments of thought.

“No, Hic-ah is going to stay in the smith. This is where he works,” Jack explained for perhaps the hundredth time.

She frowned. Jack went and picked her up and took her to a window. He pointed to the new building not more than fifty feet away.

“Ja works there; Hic-ah works here. You can run back and forth… or ask Toothless or Meatlug to fly you over.”

“Really? You’re encouraging her to use dragons as a ferry instead of walking?” Hiccup complained to his mate as he reheated the piece of metal in the forge. The wild groan and hiss of the bellows forced him to speak louder.

“She’ll get maybe one or two rides at best, and you know it. Toothless won’t put up with it and Meatlug is too lazy,” the Earthling rejoined.

Hiccup stood with one gloved hand clutching a hammer perched on a hip with the other gloved hand held tongs holding the metal into the fire. Dressed in work-scared pants, a long-sleeved shirt despite the heat of the forge, and the precious dragon-hide apron, the man did not resemble how he last looked when they sailed north for Berk with Hasna and Nepta in tow. He frowned at the two standing by the window. During the previous winter he , Jack, and Snotlout finished the plans for the new woodshop. In the early spring when they began to break ground, the rest of the Berk pitched in to help once they realized the benefit they would receive. By mid-summer work ended and a new building sat behind the forge. Jack, Snotlout, and Fishlegs then spent two months adding or building other equipment to assist them. The Berkians began to pepper Jack and Snotlout with new orders almost as soon as the last piece of thatch got laid on the roof and final nail sunk, but slunk away realizing the woodshop needed preparation. The current state of the move proved vexing to the master smith since it disrupted his workshop at every turn.

“But you still shouldn’t be encouraging it,” the Viking returned to the main point.

He looked at the girl held by the man he loved without question. The death of IceSpike remained a touchy subject, but Jack channeled his flying energies into helping raise the girl. Few realized or understood Hasna’s seeming preternatural intelligence came from the hours and hours Jack, and Hiccup, poured into her education. The artistic skills of her fathers proved invaluable when words failed. Thus, Hasna developed a visual acuity as great as any adult could claim. She also took up drawing. Between Hiccup and Jack the girl learned numerous drawing techniques. Moreover, her keen eye aided her increasingly deft hand. The Viking knew the foundling girl loved him without mercy, and he wanted the same for Jack. Thus, he never showed a single iota of jealousy as their bond became stronger.

“I suppose you’re right, but who can resist this?” Jack said and stared blowing raspberries on her neck.

Hasna laughed and shrieked at one and the same time. Mouldy and Fartbritches looked up from their work, saw the cause, and resumed their tasks. The two smiths learned to ignore the chaos introduced by the girl whenever she entered the smithy. However, and when they thought Hiccup did not see them, both men liked to entertain Hasna. Hiccup saw the small items they crafted for her, and it actually started to make Fartbritches a better smith.

“So… are you waiting ‘til the snow begins to fall before you begin the move?” The master smith grumped at the master woodwright.

“Need to pack everything first. Snotlout is…”

“Unca Snot,” Hasna cooed the name since she never tired of the repeat-the-name game.

Hiccup grinned at their daughter and said: “You’re the only one who gets away with calling him Snot. Even his father isn’t allowed.”

“Sassa does,” Jack said and shrugged.

“Yeah, well, look at who she is.”

The men smirked at one another. They made a private bet when the two would announce their betrothal. Jack predicted by fall while Hiccup opted for spring. Time began to run out on Jack’s clock regarding the bet. However, they saw how she greeted the man when they arrived from midworld. Moreover, Snotlout did not hide his considerable and deep affection for the woman.

“You know we were just as bad once a upon a time?” Jack rhetorically asked.

“Worse, probably, especially after you came home looking like that,” Hiccup stated and waggled his eyebrows in a salacious manner.

“And she’s going to start imitating that.”

“Mimititting,” Hasna mumbled as she continued to look out window at the new woodshop. “Unca Fishy.”

Hiccup glanced out the window in the direction of the new woodshop and saw Fishleg’s arm swing inside. The brilliant and stout Viking lent considerable assistance to Jack and Snotlout as they designed and constructed the new building. Then Hiccup noted the tilt of the sun. He pulled the now heated metal from the forge and set it on his personal gronckle-iron anvil. After stripping off his apron and gloves. He walked over to Jack. Jack nodded.

“Hasna, know what time it is?” Jack questioned the girl.

She sucked in an excited breath and said: “Nepta eat. Nepta fed.”

“Okay, now say Nepta needs feeding,” Hiccup pressed her.

“Nepta needs eed,” she replied.

“Um, try again, Scrunch Face. Nepta needs feeding.”

“Ahh,” Hasna huffed, but she also appeared to focus. “Nepta needs… eeding.”

“F-f-f-f…. fa… fa… f-f-f-eeding,” the Viking parent sounded it out.

“Fa… eeding.

“Feeding.”

“Fa-eeding.”

“Nepta needs feeding,” Hiccup made another approach to the sentence.

“Nepta needs fa-eeding,” Hasna studiously replied.

“Good,” the one she called Hic-ah said and kissed her on the forehead. Then he ruffled her hair.

“Hic-ah, no!” She rumbled at him while patting down her hair.

“Hic-ah bad,” Jack said in a low tone.

“Bad,” the girl giggled.

“Ugh! You’re getting too heavy to carry down to the docks.”

During summer daylight hours they would go see the dragon at the north beach where Nepta often lounged and swam with the other dragons. Fishlegs would spend as much of any given day as he could studying the water dragon. Despite being on an island and surrounded by water, none of the Berkians ever got the chance to really study one, but they did managed to fight and get killed by sea dragons in absurdly high numbers in days gone by and, in a limited number, present days. It remained one of the last breeds of dragon the Vikings did not entirely befriend. Thus, Nepta offered a rare chance, and Fishlegs seized it with gusto. During spring until summer arrived and the fall when he departed, they met Nepta at the docks. He retained his training and would sometimes pull himself from the water. Hiccup and Fishlegs augmented one dock so the edge hovered a few inches from the ocean’s surface. Hence, it afforded Hasna a relatively safe place to meet and play with her dragon friend.

Her Guardian parent set her down, but not before Jack demanded a kiss a payment. Then following a ritual they established the previous year, and Hasna loved her rituals, she held out her hands. Hiccup took her left hand, and Jack her right. The started to walk through smith toward the east entrance, accessible since Jack and Snotlout moved equipment and wood scraps out of the way. Jack saw the way Hiccup eyed the newly opened space and wondered to what use the man would put it.

“Do you even remember what used to sit there?” Jack asked while lifting the latch of the door.

“To be honest, no. I think Grump might’ve slept there a lot,” Hiccup said.

Both men felt both a sense of warmth and of loss at the mention of the dragon’s name because it immediately conjured a singular person in both their minds.

“Grump slept wherever he wanted and that usually meant everywhere,” the Earthling muttered and grinned as he thought of the huge hot burple.

“Nepta needs fa-eeding,” Hasna implored when they stopped walking.

“Yes, Dragon Butt, Nepta needs feeding,” Hiccup teased her.

“Hasna not dragon butt. Hic-ah bad,” she rumble darkly, but her eyes gleamed as she looked at her Viking parent.

“Should we feed Hic-ah to Nepta?” Jack queried.

The girl shot him a look of abhorrence.

“Bet he tastes… like eel.”

“Okay, that last line wasn’t funny,” Hiccup protested.

Hasna giggled at the reaction and mumbled, “Hic-ah eel.”

“You are so going to pay for that, Jack.”

Jack leaned over and gave him a peck on lips.

“Un-uh. You use that on me all the time…”

“Docks, now!” The girl demanded.

The men shot her a stern glance.

“Pease,” she quickly added.

Her parents glanced at one another, nodded, and resumed heading out the door. Hiccup lead the way, Hasna followed him, and Jack followed her. Hiccup looked slovenly in his smithing clothes, and Jack barely less so. Hasna dressed in familiar Viking garb: sturdy, tanned yak-hide boots, stiff broadcloth pants, a decorated broad leather belt, and a vested flax shirt. Her long, black hair got plaited every morning by Groanhilde who almost took out both men when they contemplated cutting it. On that particular day, green and blue ribbons got woven into her tresses. Unlike Viking children, Hasna did not like to wear hats or helmets except during the brutal winter months. Her brown skin, only a shade lighter since leaving the island, announced her as from somewhere else. However, in the preceding year people began to forgot Hasna arrived with Hiccup and Jack as she initiated her own form of childish terror on the inhabitants of Berk.

Hand-in-hand they walked out through the alley into the main plaza. The stone pediment hosting a taller pillar of wood that once held aloft an enormous signal and watch fire got fitted with various sized perches. Dragons of many types roosted there to catch the last warming rays of the day. The trio walked passed to the outer edge where they would find the ramps leading down to the docks. Even at that range they could hear the ocean; the sound grew deeper as winter made an approach. At the docks the wind picked up. Clothing ruffled in the seemingly constant breeze, although during midday it tended to be slack. Six feet began the descent on ramps four of those feet knew very well. The angle, about which the longshoremen complained, meant they needed to carefully tread. The decline reduced at the first switchback and again at the second. Waves slapped the edges of the folding docks that would be lifted before the ice began to floe and set in. The two men and little girl aimed for the last dock, the one adjusted for a sea dragon.

“Nepta!” Hasna shrieked and her fathers released her hands.

They did not fear the girl would fall in the water. Even if she did, the dark green sea creature would save her before Hiccup could call to Toothless. Instead, the men clasped hands as they continued at a leisurely pace in the wake of their daughter. At the junction of the docks, the Viking grabbed the bucket of fish left there for Hasna’s visits. They then turned to the right and slowly ambled down the dock while Hasna hugged the thick and wet neck of Nepta. The dragon slushily warbled in contentment. The Hallan man and the Earth man both considered Nepta a part of their family. Hasna's love the beast demanded it.

“Here you go, sweet girl,” Jack said as Hiccup set the bucket down.

Overhead a black shape sailed into view. Toothless joined them every evening without needing to be called. He went first to Hiccup who slathered emotion all over the night fury while scratching the tough hide. Toothless crooned with pleasure. At that sound Hasna turned and brought a fish to the ebony dragon who gently took it from her. From there the night fury turned to Jack for more affection, and Jack piled it on almost as obscenely as his husband. Sometimes Jack wept while tending to the winged wonder. That evening he luxuriated in the simple love Toothless always showed him. When he finished, the night fury went to join the girl and the water dragon.

The two men slipped an arm around the other’s waist.

“I love this,” Hiccup quietly said. “I love this time of day. I love it when it’s just the five of us.”

“Mmm, yeah. Family,” Jack agreed in his own fashion.

At the end of the dock a girl from a far off place cavorted with a water dragon from an unknown location and a night fury whose origin remained a mystery. A man born and raised on the island beamed with happiness at the treasures of his life. He never expected he would ever feel as content as he did in that moment. Next to him a man from a world so far away no one could explain it hugged the Viking. While Hiccup felt at peace, Jack felt more of himself than he ever thought could fit into one skin.


End file.
